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BOSTON 
LITTLE.  BR0WN.8,  COMPANY 


THE   NOVELS   OF   CHARLES   LEVER. 

aiSEtti)  an  CntroBuctiou  bg  ^IuJkSb  Hang. 


THE    DALTONS; 


OR, 


THREE    ROADS    IN    LIFE. 


WITH   ILLUSTRATIONS  BY   PHIZ. 


IN    TWO  VOLUMES 
VOL.  I. 


BOSTON  :    LITTLE,  BROWN,  AND  COMPANY. 
NEW    YORK:    CROSCUP  AND  COMPANY. 

1895. 


Sanibtrsttg  Press 
John  Wilson  and  Son,  Cambridge,  U.  S.  A. 


To  LORD    METHUEN. 


My  Dear  Methuen,  —  Some  idle  folk  have  pretended  that 
certain  living  characters  have  been  depicted  under  the  fictitious 
names  of  these  volumes.  There  is,  I  assure  you,  but  one  per- 
sonality contained  in  it, —  and  that  is  of  a  right  true-hearted 
Englishman,  hospitable,  and  manly  in  all  his  dealings ;  and  to 
him  I  wish  to  dedicate  my  book,  in  testimony  not  only  of  the 
gratitude  which,  in  common  with  all  his  countrymen  here,  I 
feel  to  be  his  due,  but  in  recognition  of  many  happy  hours 
passed  in  his  society,  and  the  honor  of  his  friendship.  The 
personality  begins  and  ends  with  this  dedication,  which  I  beg 
you  to  accept  of,  and  am 

Ever  yours  faithfully, 

CHARLES  LEVER. 

Palazzo  Cappoxi,  Florence, 
Feb.  28,  1852. 


PKEFACE. 


If  the  original  conception  of  this  tale  was  owing  to  the 
story  of  an  old  and  valued  schoolfellow  who  took  service 
in  Austria,  and  rose  to  rank  and  honors  there,  all  the 
rest  was  purely  fictitious.  My  friend  had  made  a  deep 
impression  on  my  mind  by  his  narratives  of  that  strange 
life,  wherein,  in  the  very  midst  of  our  modern  civilization, 
an  old-world  tradition  still  has  its  influence,  making  the 
army  of  to-day  the  veritable  sons  and  descendants  of 
those  who  grouped  around  the  bivouac  fires  in  Wallen- 
stein's  camp.  Of  that  more  than  Oi'iental  submission  — 
that  graduated  deference  to  military  rank  —  that  chival-. 
rous  devotion  to  the  "  Kaiser "  which  enter  into  the 
soldier  heart  of  Austria,  I  have  been  unable  to  repro- 
duce any  but  the  very  faintest  outlines,  and  yet  these 
were  the  traits  which  pervaded  all  my  friend's  stories 
and  gave  them  character  and  distinctiveness. 

Many  of  the  other  characters  in  this  tale  were  drawn 
from  the  life,  with  such  changes  —  added  and  omitted 
features  —  as  might  rescue  them  from  any  charge  of 
personality.  With  all  my  care  on  this  score,  one  or 
two  have  been  believed  to  be  recognizable  ;  and  if  so 
I  have  only  to  hope  that  I  have  touched  on  peculiari- 
ties of  disposition  inoffensively,  and  only  depicted  such 


viii  PREFACE. 

traits  as  may  "  point  a  moral,"  without  wounding  the 
possessor. 

The  last  portion  of  the  story  includes  some  scenes 
from  the  Italian  campaign,  which  had  just  come  to  a 
close  while  1  was  writing.  If  a  better  experience  of 
Italy  than  I  then  possessed  might  modify  some  of  the 
opinions  I  entertained  at  that  time,  and  induce  me  to 
form  some  conclusions  at  least  at  variance  with  those  I 
then  expressed,  I  still  prefer  to  leave  the  whole  unal- 
tered, lest  in  changing  I  might  injure  the  impression 
under  which  the  fulness  of  my  once  conviction  had 
impelled  me  to  pronounce. 

Writing  these  lines  now,  while  men's  hearts  are 
throbbing  anxiously  for  the  tidings  any  day  may  pro- 
duce, and  when  the  earth  is  already  tremulous  under  the 
march  of  distant  squadrons,  I  own  that  even  the  faint, 
weak  picture  of  that  struggle  in  this  story  appeals  to 
myself  with  a  more  than  common  interest.  I  have  no 
more  to  add  than  my  grateful  acknowledgments  to 
such  as  still  hold  me  in  their  favor,  and  to  write  myself 
their  devoted  servant, 

CHARLES  LEVER. 


CONTENTS. 


Chapter 

I. 

II. 

III. 

IV. 

V. 

VI. 

VII. 

VIII. 

IX. 

X. 

XI. 

XII. 

XIII. 

XIV. 

XV. 

XVI. 

XVII. 

XVIII. 

XIX. 

XX. 

XXI. 

XXII. 

XXITI. 

XXIV. 


Paok 

Baden  out  of  Season 1 

An  Humble  Interior H 

The  Forest  Road 24 

The  Onslows 41 

The  Patient 50 

A  First  Visit 59 

A  Lesson  in  Pistol-Shooting 68 

The  Night  Excursion 76 

A  Fine  Lady's  Blandishments 85 

A  Family  Discussion 94 

"  A  Peep  between  the  Shutters  "  at  a  New 

Character 105 

Mr.  Albert  Jekyl 116 

A  Suspicious  Visitor 124 

An  Embarrassing  Question 130 

Contrasts 147 

The  "Saal"  of  the  "Russie" 167 

A  Family  Discussion 172 

Cares  and  Crosses 187 

Preparations  for  the  Road 194 

A  Very  Small  "Interior" 216 

A  Family  Picture 224 

Kate 237 

A  Small  Supper  Party 248 

A  Midnight  Reception 259 


CONTENTS. 


Chaptkb  Paok 

XXV.  A  "  Levanter  " 268 

XXVI.  "  The  End  of  the  First  Act  " 287 

XXVII.  A  Small  Dinner  at  the  Villino  Zoe   .     .  301 

XXVIII.  The  Viscount's  Vision 316 

XXIX.  Frank's  Journey .  325 

XXX.  The    Threat    of   "a  Slight    Embarrass- 
ment"      342 

XXXI.  A  Convivial  Evening 352 

XXXII.  An  Invasion 367 

XXXIII.  The  Conclusion  of  a  "Grand  Dinner"  .  383 

XXXIV.  Jekyl's  Counsels 399 

XXXV.  Racca  Morlaciie 410 

XXXVI.  A  Street  Rencontre 425 

XXXVII.  Proposals 441 

XXXVIII.  An  Arrival 457 

XXXIX.  Pratolino 467 


ILLUSTRATIONS   BY  PHIZ  IN  VOL.   I. 


Illustrated  Title. 

A  Midnight  Reception Frontispiece 

All  is  not  Gold  that  Glitters 142 

Mr.  Jekyl's  Supper  Trio 250 

Lord  Norwood 310 

A  Fellow  Traveller 328 

Mrs.  Ricketts  proposes  a  little  Walk,  by  Moonlight  .    .  376 

3IUu0trati0ns  in  tJje  Ceit. 

Hans  enveighs  against  the  "Horrors  op  War"  ....  19 

The  Farewell  Kiss 29 

The  Wooden  Figure 57 

To  the  Rescue  ! 73 

Lady  Hester  visits  the  Wounded 89 

Mr.  Alfred  Jekyl  at  Supper 113 

A  SMALL  Tea  Party 145 

A  Hydropathic  Remedy 201 

Friendly  advice  kindly  received  —  (as  usual)     ....  207 

Kate  and  Nina 241 

The  Mesmeric  Trance     . 293 

Punch  and  Palaver 355 

Purvis  taking  a  Survey 387 

Mr.  Purvis  procures  a  Chair  for  Kate 393 

A  Floorer 437 

A  Fragment  of  Lace 451 


THE    DALTONS; 

OE, 

THREE  ROADS  IN   LIFE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

BADEN   OUT   OF    SEASON. 

A  THEATRE  by  daylight,  a  great  historical  picture  in  the 
process  of  cleaning,  a  ballet-dancer  of  a  wet  day  hasten- 
ing to  rehearsal,  the  favorite  for  the  Oaks  dead-lame  in  a 
straw-yard,  are  scarcely  more  stripped  of  their  legitimate 
illusions  than  is  a  fashionable  watering-place  on  the  approach 
of  winter.  The  gay  shops  and  stalls  of  flaunting  wares  are 
closed ;  the  promenades,  lately  kept  in  trimmest  order,  are 
weed-grown  and  neglected;  the  "sear  and  yellow  leaves" 
are  fluttering  and  rustling  along  the  allej's  where  "Beauty's 
step  was  wont  to  tread."  Both  music  and  fountains  have 
ceased  to  play ;  the  very  statues  are  putting  on  great  over- 
coats of  snow,  while  the  orange-trees  file  off  like  a  sad 
funeral  procession  to  hide  themselves  in  dusky  sheds  till 
the  coming  spring. 

You  see  as  you  look  around  you  that  nature  has  been  as 
unreal  as  art  itself,  and  that  all  the  bright  hues  of  foliage 
and  flower,  all  the  odors  that  floated  from  bed  and  parterre, 
all  the  rippling  flow  of  stream  and  fountain,  have  been 
just  as  artistically  devised,  and  as  much  "got  up,"  as  the 
transparencies  or  the  Tyrolese  singers,  the  fireworks  or  the 
fancy  fair,  or  any  other  of  those  ingenious  "spectacles" 
which  amuse  the  grown  children  of  fashion.  The  few  who 
yet  linger  seem  to  have  undergone  a  strange  transmutation, 
vor..  I.  —  1 


2  THE   DALTONS. 

The  smiling  landlord  of  the  "  Adler  "  —  we  refer  particularly 
to  Germany  as  the  very  land  of  watering-places  —  is  a  half- 
sulky,  farmer-looking  personage,  busily  engaged  in  storing 
up  his  Indian  corn  and  his  firewood  and  his  forage,  against 
the  season  of  snows.  The  bland  "  croupier,"  on  whose 
impassive  countenance  no  shade  of  fortune  was  able  to 
mark  even  a  passing  emotion,  is  now  seen  higgling  with  a 
peasant  for  a  sack  of  charcoal,  in  all  the  eagerness  of  ava- 
rice. The  trim  maiden,  whose  golden  locks  and  soft  blue 
eyes  made  the  bouquets  she  sold  seem  fairer  to  look  on, 
is  a  stout  wench,  whose  uncouth  fur  cap  and  wooden  shoes 
are  the  very  antidotes  to  romance.  All  the  transforma- 
tions take  the  same  sad  colors.  It  is  a  pantomime  read 
backwards. 

Such  was  Baden-Baden  in  the  November  of  182-.  Some 
weeks  of  bad  and  broken  weather  had  scattered  and  dis- 
persed all  the  gay  company.  The  hotels  and  assembly- 
rooms  were  closed  for  the  winter.  The  ball-room,  which  so 
lately  was  alight  with  a  thousand  tapers,  was  now  barricaded 
like  a  jail.  The  very  post-office,  around  which  each  morn- 
ing an  eager  and  pressing  crowd  used  to  gather,  was  shut 
up,  —  one  small  aperture  alone  remaining,  as  if  to  show  to 
what  a  fraction  all  correspondence  had  been  reduced.  The 
Hotel  de  Russie  was  the  only  house  open  in  the  little  town ; 
but  although  the  door  lay  ajar,  no  busy  throng  of  waiters, 
no  lamps,  invited  the  traveller  to  believe  a  hospitable  recep- 
tion might  await  him  within.  A  very  brief  glance  inside 
would  soon  have  dispelled  any  such  illusion,  had  it  ever 
existed.  The  wide  staircase,  formerly  lined  with  orange- 
trees  and  camellias,  was  stripped  of  all  its  bright  foliage; 
the  marble  statues  were  removed ;  the  great  thermometer, 
whose  crystal  decorations  had  arrested  many  a  passing  look, 
was  now  encased  within  a  wooden  box,  as  if  its  tell-tale  face 
might  reveal  unpleasant  truths,  if  left  exposed. 

The  spacious  "  Saal,"  where  some  eighty  guests  assembled 
every  day,  was  denuded  of  all  its  furniture,  mirrors,  and 
lustres ;  bronzes  and  pictures  were  gone,  and  nothing  re- 
mained but  a  huge  earthenware  stove,  within  whose  grating 
a  faded  nosegay — left  there  in  summer  —  defied  all  specula- 
tions as  to  a  fire. 


BADEN  OUT  OF  SEASON.  3 

In  this  comfortless  chamber  three  persons  now  paraded 
with  that  quick  step  and  brisk  motion  that  bespeak  a 
walk  for  warmth  and  exercise ;  for  dismal  as  it  was  within 
doors,  it  was  still  preferable  to  the  scene  without,  where  a 
cold  incessant  rain  was  falling,  that,  on  the  hills  around, 
took  the  form  of  snow.  The  last  lingerers  at  a  watering- 
place,  like  those  who  cling  on  to  a  wreck,  have  usually 
something  peculiarly  sad  in  their  aspect.  Unable,  as  it 
were,  to  brave  the  waves  like  strong  swimmers,  they  hold 
on  to  the  last  with  some  vague  hope  of  escape,  and,  like 
a  shipwrecked  crew,  drawing  closer  to  each  other  in  adver- 
sity than  in  more  prosperous  times,  they  condescend  now 
to  acquaintaAce,  and  even  intimacy,  where,  before,  a  mere 
nod  of  recognition  was  alone  interchanged.  Such  were  the 
three  who  now,  buttoned  up  to  the  chin,  and  with  hands 
deeply  thrust  into  side-pockets,  paced  backwards  and 
forwards,  sometimes  exchanging  a  few  words,  but  in 
that  broken  and  discursive  fashion  that  showed  that  no 
tie  of  mutual  taste  or  companionship  had  bound  them 
together. 

The  youngest  of  the  party  was  a  small  and  very  slightly 
made  man  of  about  five  or  six-and-twenty,  whose  face, 
voice,  and  figure  were  almost  feminine,  and,  only  for  a  very 
slight  line  of  black  moustache,  might  have  warranted  the 
suspicion  of  a  disguise.  His  lacquered  boots  and  spotless 
yellow  gloves  appeared  somewhat  out  of  season,  as  well  as 
the  very  light  textured  coat  which  he  wore ;  but  Mr.  Albert 
Jekyl  had  been  accidentally  detained  at  Baden,  waiting  for 
that  cruel  remittance  which,  whether  the  sin  be  that  of  agent 
or  relative,  is  ever  so  slow  of  coming.  That  he  bore  the 
inconvenience  admirably  (and  without  the  slightest  show 
of  impatience)  it  is  but  fair  to  confess;  and  whatever  cha- 
grin either  the  detention,  the  bad  weather,  or  the  solitude 
may  have  occasioned,  no  vestige  of  discontent  appeared 
upon  features  where  a  look  of  practised  courtesy,  and  a 
most  bland  smile,  gave  the  predominant  expression.  "  Who 
he  was,"  or,  in  other  words,  whence  he  came,  of  what 
family,  with  what  fortune,  pursuits,  or  expectations,  we  are 
not  ashamed  to  confess  our  utter  ignorance,  seeing  that  it 
was  shared  by  all  those  that  tarried  that  season  at  Baden, 


4  THE  DALTONS. 

with  whom,  however,  he  lived  on  terms  of  easy  and  familiar 
intercourse. 

The  next  to  him  was  a  bilious-looking  man,  somewhat 
past  the  middle  of  life,  with  that  hard  and  severe  cast  of 
features  that  rather  repels  than  invites  intimacy.  In  figure 
he  was  compactly  and  stoutly  built,  his  step  as  he  walked, 
and  his  air  as  he  stood,  showed  one  whose  military  training 
had  given  the  whole  tone  to  his  character.  Certain  strong 
lines  about  the  mouth,  and  a  peculiar  puckering  of  the 
angles  of  the  eyes,  boded  a  turn  for  sarcasm,  which  all  his 
instincts,  and  they  were  Scotch  ones,  could  not  completely 
repress.  His  voice  was  loud,  sharp,  and  ringing,  —  the 
voice  of  a  man  who,  when  he  said  a  thing,  would  not  brook 
being  asked  to  repeat  it.  That  Colonel  Haggerstone  knew 
how  to  be  sapling  as  well  as  oak,  was  a  tradition  among 
those  who  had  served  with  him ;  still  it  is  right  to  add,  that 
his  more  congenial  mood  was  the  imperative,  and  that  which 
he  usually  practised.  The  accidental  lameness  of  one  of 
his  horses  had  detained  him  some  weeks  at  Baden,  — a  dur- 
ance which  assuredly  appeared  to  push  his  temper  to  its 
very  last  intrenchments. 

The  third  representative  of  forlorn  humanity  was  a  very 
tall,  muscular  man,  whose  jockey-cut  green  coat  and  wide- 
brimmed  hat  contrasted  oddly  with  a  pair  of  huge  white 
moustaches,  that  would  have  done  credit  to  a  captain  of 
the  Old  Guard.  On  features,  originally  handsome,  time, 
poverty,  and  dissipation  had  left  many  a  mark;  but  still 
the  half-droll,  half-truculent  twinkle  of  his  clear  gray  eyes 
showed  him  one  whom  no  turn  of  fortune  could  thoroughly 
subdue,  and  who,  even  in  the  very  hardest  of  his  trials, 
could  find  heart  to  indulge  his  humor  —  for  Peter  Dalton 
was  an  Irishman;  and  although  many  years  an  absentee, 
held  the  dear  island  and  its  prejudices  as  green  in  his 
memory  as  though  he  had  left  it  but  a  week  before. 

Such  were  the  three,  who,  without  one  sympathy  in  com- 
mon, without  a  point  of  contact  in  character,  were  now 
drawn  into  a  chance  acquaintance  by  the  mere  accident  of 
bad  weather.  Their  conversation  —  if  such  it  could  be 
called  —  showed  how  little  progress  could  be  made  in  inti- 
macy by  those  whose  roads  in  life  lie  apart.     The  bygone 


BADEN  OUT  OF  SEASON.  5 

season,  the  company,  the  play-table  and  its  adventures, 
were  all  discussed  so  often,  that  nothing  remained  but  the 
weather.  That  topic,  so  inexhaustible  to  Englishmen, 
however,  offered  little  variety  now,  for  it  had  been  uni- 
formly bad  for  some  weeks  past. 

"Where  do  you  propose  to  pass  the  winter,  sir?"  said 
Haggerstone  to  Jekyl,  after  a  somewhat  lengthy  lamen- 
tation over  the  probable  condition  of  all  the  Alpine 
passes. 

"I  've  scarcely  thought  of  it  yet,"  simpered  out  the  other, 
with  his  habitual  smile.  "There's  no  saying  where  one 
ought  to  pitch  his  tent  till  the  Carnival  opens." 

"And  you,  sir?"  asked  Haggerstone  of  his  companion 
on  the  other  side. 

"Upon  my  honor,  I  don't  know  then,"  said  Dalton;  "but 
I  would  n't  wonder  if  I  stayed  here,  or  hereabouts." 

"Here!  why,  this  is  Tobolsk,  sir!  You  surely  couldn't 
mean  to  pass  a  winter  here?" 

"I  once  knew  a  man  who  did  it,"  interposed  Jekyl, 
blandly.  "  They  cleaned  him  out  at '  the  tables ; '  and  so  he 
had  nothing  for  it  but  to  remain.  He  made  rather  a  good 
thing  of  it,  too ;  for  it  seems  these  worthy  people,  however 
conversant  with  the  great  arts  of  ruin,  had  never  seen  the 
royal  game  of  thimble-rig;  and  Frank  Mathews  walked 
into  them  all,  and  contrived  to  keep  himself  in  beet-root 
and  boiled  beef  by  his  little  talents." 

"Was  n't  that  the  fellow  who  was  broke  at  Kilmagund?  " 
croaked  Haggerstone. 

"Something  happened  to  him  in  India;  I  never  well 
knew  what,"  simpered  Jekyl.  "Some  said  he  had  caught 
the  cholera;  others,  that  he  had  got  into  the  Company's 
service. " 

"By  way  of  a  mishap,  sir,  I  suppose,"  said  the  Colonel, 
tartly. 

"  He  would  n't  have  minded  it,  in  the  least.  For  certain," 
resumed  the  other,  coolly,  "he  was  a  sharp-witted  fellow; 
always  ready  to  take  the  tone  of  any  society." 

The  Colonel's  cheek  grew  yellower,  and  his  eyes  sparkled 
with  an  angrier  lustre;  but  he  made  no  rejoinder. 

"That's  the  place  to  make  a  fortune,  I'm  told,"  said 


6  THE   DALTONS. 

Dalton.  "I  hear  there's  not  the  like  of  it  all  the  world 
over." 

"Or  to  spend  one,"  added  Haggerstone,  curtly. 

"Well,  and  why  not?  "  replied  Dalton.  "I  'm  sure  it 's 
as  pleasant  as  saving  —  barring  a  man  's  a  Scotchman." 

"And  if  he  should  be,  sir?  —  and  if  he  were  one  that 
now  stands  before  you?"  said  Haggerstone,  drawing  him- 
self proudly  up,  and  looking  the  other  sternly  in  the 
face. 

"  No  oflfence  —  no  offence  in  life.  I  did  n't  mean  to  hurt 
your  feelings.  Sure,  a  man  can't  help  where  he  's  going  to 
be  born." 

"I  fancy  we  'd  all  have  booked  ourselves  for  a  cradle 
in  Buckingham  Palace,"  interposed  Jekyl,  "if  the  matter 
were  optional." 

"Faith!  I  don't  think  so,"  broke  in  Dalton.  "Give  me 
back  Corrig-O'Neal,  as  my  grandfather  Pearce  had  it,  with 
the  whole  barony  of  Kilmurray-O'Mahon,  two  packs  of 
hounds,  and  the  first  cellar  in  the  county,  and  to  the  devil 
I  'd  fling  all  the  royal  residences  ever  I  seen." 

"The  sentiment  is  scarcely  a  loyal  one,  sir,"  said  Hag- 
gerstone, "and,  as  one  wearing  his  Majesty's  cloth,  I  beg 
to  take  the  liberty  of  reminding  you  of  it." 

"Maybe  it  isn't;  and  what  then?"  said  Dalton,  over 
whose  good-natured  countenance  a  passing  cloud  of  dis- 
pleasure lowered. 

"Simply,  sir,  that  it  shouldn't  be  uttered  in  my  pres- 
ence," said  Haggerstone. 

"Phew!"  said  Dalton,  with  a  long  whistle,  "is  that 
what  you  're  at?  See,  now  "  —  here  he  turned  fully  round, 
so  as  to  face  the  Colonel  —  "see,  now,  I'm  the  dullest 
fellow  in  the  world  at  what  is  called  '  taking  a  thing  up ;  ' 
but  make  it  clear  for  me  —  let  me  only  see  what  is  pleasing 
to  the  company,  and  it  is  n't  Peter  Dalton  will  balk  your 
fancy." 

"May  I  venture  to  remark,"  said  Jekyl,  blandly,  "that 
you  are  both  in  error,  and  however  I  may  (the  cold  of  the 
season  being  considered)  envy  your  warmth,  it  is  after  all 
only  so  much  caloric  needlessly  expended." 

"I  was  n't  choleric  at  all,"  broke  in  Dalton,  mistaking 


BADEN   OUT  OF  SEASON.  7 

the  word,  and  thus  happily,  by  the  hearty  laugh  his  blun- 
der created,  bringing  the  silly  altercation  to  an  end. 

"Well,"  said  Haggerstone,  "since  we  are  all  so  perfectly 
agreed  in  our  sentiments,  we  could  n't  do  better  than  dine 
together,  and  have  a  bumper  to  the  King's  health." 

"I  always  dine  at  two,  or  half-past,"  simpered  JekyI; 
"besides,  I'm  on  a  regimen,  and  never  drink  wine." 

"There  's  nobody  likes  a  bit  of  conviviality  better  than 
myself,"  said  Dalton;  "but  I  've  a  kind  of  engagement,  — a 
promise  I  made  this  morning." 

There  was  an  evident  confusion  in  the  way  these  words 
were  uttered,  which  did  not  escape  either  of  the  others,  who 
exchanged  the  most  significant  glances  as  he  spoke. 

"What  have  we  here?  "  cried  Jekyl,  as  he  sprang  to  the 
window  and  looked  out.  "A  courier,  by  all  that's  muddy! 
Who  could  have  expected  such  an  apparition  at  this  time?" 

"What  can  bring  people  here  now?"  said  Haggerstone, 
as  with  his  glass  to  his  eye  he  surveyed  the  little  well-fed 
figure,  who,  in  his  tawdry  jacket  all  slashed  with  gold,  and 
heavy  jack-boots,  was  closely  locked  in  the  embraces  of 
the  landlord. 

Jekyl  at  once  issued  forth  to  learn  the  news,  and, 
although  not  fully  three  minutes  absent,  returned  to  his 
companions  with  a  full  account  of  the  expected  arrivals. 

"  It 's  that  rich  banker.  Sir  Stafford  Onslow,  with  his 
family.  They  were  on  their  way  to  Italy,  and  made  a  mess 
of  it  somehow  in  the  Black  Forest  —  they  got  swept  away 
by  a  torrent,  or  crushed  by  an  avalanche,  or  something  of 
the  kind,  and  Sir  Stafford  was  seized  with  the  gout,  and 
so  they  've  put  back,  glad  even  to  make  such  a  port  as 
Baden." 

"If  it's  the  gout's  the  matter  with  him,"  said  Dalton, 
"I  've  the  finest  receipt  in  the  world.  Take  a  pint  of 
spirits  —  poteen  if  you  can  get  it  —  beat  up  two  eggs  and  a 
pat  of  butter  in  it;  throw  in  a  clove  of  garlic  and  a  few 
scrapings  of  horseradish,  let  it  simmer  over  the  fire  for  a 
minute  or  two,  stir  it  with  a  sprig  of  rosemary  to  give  it  a 
flavor,  and  then  drink  it  off." 

"Gracious  Heaven!  what  a  dose!"  exclaimed  Jekyl,  in 
horror. 


8  THE  DALTONS. 

"Well,  then,  I  never  knew  it  fail.  My  father  took  it  for 
forty  years,  and  there  wasn't  a  haler  man  in  the  country. 
If  it  was  n't  that  he  gave  up  the  horseradish  —  for  he 
did  n't  like  the  taste  of  it  —  he  'd,  maybe,  be  alive  at  this 
hour." 

"The  cure  was  rather  slow  of  operation,"  said  Hagger- 
stone,  with  a  sneer. 

"  'Twas  only  the  more  like  all  remedies  for  Irish  griev- 
ances, then,"  observed  Dal  ton,  and  his  face  grew  a  shade 
graver  as  he  spoke. 

"Who  was  it  this  Onslow  married?"  said  the  Colonel, 
turning  to  Jekyl. 

"One  of  the  Head  worths,  I  think." 

"Ah,  to  be  sure;  Lady  Hester.  She  was  a  handsome 
woman  when  I  saw  her  first,  but  she  fell  off  sadly;  and 
indeed,  if  she  had  not,  she  'd  scarcely  have  condescended  to 
an  alliance  with  a  man  in  trade,  even  though  he  were  Sir 
Gilbert  Stafford." 

"Sir  Gilbert  Stafford!  "  repeated  Dalton. 

"Yes,  sir;  and  now  Sir  Gilbert  Stafford  Onslow.  He 
took  the  name  from  that  estate  in  Warwickshire;  Skepton 
Park,  I  believe  they  call  it." 

"By  my  conscience,  I  wish  that  was  the  only  thing  he 
took,"  ejaculated  Dalton,  with  a  degree  of  fervor  that 
astonished  the  others,  "for  he  took  an  elegant  estate  that 
belonged  by  right  to  my  wife.  Maybe  you  have  heard  tell 
of  Corrig-O'Neal?" 

Haggerstone  shook  his  head,  while  with  his  elbow  he 
nudged  his  companion,  to  intimate  his  total  disbelief  in 
the  whole  narrative. 

"Surely  you  must  have  heard  of  the  murder  of  Afthur 
Godfrey,  of  Corrig-O'Neal ;  was  n't  the  whole  world  ringing 
with  it?" 

Another  negative  sign  answered  this  appeal. 

"Well,  well,  that  beats  all  ever  I  heard!  but  so  it  is, 
sorrow  bit  they  care  in  England  if  we  all  murdered  each 
other!  Arthur  Godfrey,  as  I  was  saying,  was  my  wife's 
brother,  —  there  were  just  the  two  of  them,  Arthur  and 
Jane;  she  was  my  wife." 

"Ah!  here  they  come!  "  exclaimed  Jekyl,  not  sorry  for 


BADEN  OUT  OF  SEASON.  9 

the  event  which  so  opportunely  interrupted  Dalton's  unprom- 
ising history.  And  now  a  heavy  travelling-carriage,  loaded 
with  imperials  and  beset  with  boxes,  was  dragged  up  to 
the  door  by  six  smoking  horses.  The  courier  and  the 
landlord  were  immediately  in  attendance,  and  after  a  brief 
delay  the  steps  were  lowered,  and  a  short,  stout  man,  with 
a  very  red  face  and  a  very  yellow  wig,  descended,  and 
assisted  a  lady  to  alight.  She  was  a  tall  woman,  whose 
figure  and  carriage  were  characterized  by  an  air  of  fashion. 
After  her  came  a  younger  lady;  and  lastly,  moving  with 
great  difficulty,  and  showing  by  his  worn  looks  and 
enfeebled  frame  the  suffering  he  had  endured,  came  a  very 
thin,  mild-looking  man  of  about  sixty.  Leaning  upon  the 
arm  of  the  courier  at  one  side,  and  of  his  stout  companion, 
whom  he  called  Doctor,  at  the  other,  he  slowly  followed  the 
ladies  into  the  house.  They  had  scarcely  disappeared  when 
a  caleche,  drawn  by  three  horses  at  a  sharp  gallop,  drew  up, 
and  a  young  fellow  sprang  out,  whose  easy  gestures  and  ac- 
tive movements  showed  that  all  the  enjoyments  of  wealth 
and  all  the  blandishments  of  fashion  had  not  undermined 
the  elastic  vigor  of  body  which  young  Englishmen  owe  to 
the  practice  of  field  sports. 

"This  place  quite  deserted,  I  suppose,"  cried  he,  address- 
ing the  landlord.     "No  one  here?" 

"No  one,  sir.     All  gone,"  was  the  reply. 

Haggerstone's  head  shook  with  a  movement  of  impa- 
tience as  he  heard  this  remark,  disparaging  as  it  was,  to 
his  own  importance;  but  he  said  nothing,  and  resumed  his 
walk  as  before. 

"Our  Irish  friend  is  gone  away,  I  perceive,"  said  Jekyl, 
as  he  looked  around  in  vain  for  Dalton.  "  Do  you  believe 
all  that  story  of  the  estate  he  told  us  ?  " 

"Not  a  syllable  of  it,  sir.  I  never  yet  met  an  Irishman 
—  and  it  has  been  my  lot  to  know  some  scores  of  them  — 
who  had  not  been  cheated  out  of  a  magnificent  property,  and 
was  not  related  to  half  the  peerage  to  boot.  Now,  I  take  it 
that  our  highly  connected  friend  is  rather  out  at  elbows!  " 
And  he  laughed  his  own  peculiar  hard  laugh,  as  though  the 
mere  fancy  of  another  man's  poverty  was  something  incon- 
ceivably pleasant  and  amusing. 


10  THE  DALTONS. 

"Dinner,  sir,"  said  the  waiter,  entering  and  addressing 
the  Colonel. 

"Glad  of  it,"  cried  he;  "it's  the  only  way  to  kill  time 
in  this  cursed  place;"  and  so  saying,  and  without  the 
ceremony  of  a  good-bye  to  his  companion,  the  Colonel 
bustled  out  of  the  room  with  a  step  intended  to  represent 
extreme  youth  and  activity.  "That  gentleman  dines  at 
two?"  asked  he  of  the  waiter,  as  he  followed  him  up  the 
stairs. 

"He  has  not  dined  at  all,  sir,  for  some  days  back,"  said 
the  waiter.  "A  cup  of  coffee  in  the  morning,  and  a  biscuit, 
are  all  that  he  takes." 

The  Colonel  made  an  expressive  gesture  by  turning  out 
the  lining  of  his  pocket. 

"Yes,  sir,"  replied  the  other,  significantly;  "very  much 
that  way,  I  believe."  And  with  that  he  uncovered  the 
soup,  and  the  Colonel  arranged  his  napkin  and  prepared  to 
dine. 


CHAPTER  II. 

AN    HUMBLE    INTERIOR. 

When  Dal  ton  parted  from  his  companions  at  the  "Russie," 
it  was  to  proceed  by  many  an  intricate  and  narrow  passage 
to  a  remote  part  of  the  upper  town,  where  close  to  the 
garden  wall  of  the  Ducal  Palace  stood,  and  still  stands,  a 
little  solitary  two-storied  house,  framed  in  wood,  and  the 
partitions  displaying  some  very  faded  traces  of  fresco 
painting.  Here  was  the  well-known  shop  of  a  toy-maker; 
and  although  now  closely  barred  and  shuttered,  in  summer 
many  a  gay  and  merry  troop  of  children  devoured  with  eager 
eyes  the  treasures  of  Hans  Roeckle. 

Entering  a  dark  and  narrow  passage  beside  the  shop, 
Dalton  ascended  the  little  creaking  stairs  which  led  to  the 
second  story.  The  landing  place  was  covered  with  firewood, 
great  branches  of  newly-hewn  beech  and  oak,  in  the  midst 
of  which  stood  a  youth,  hatchet  in  hand,  busily  engaged 
in  chopping  and  splitting  the  heavy  masses  around  him. 
The  flush  of  exercise  upon  his  cheek  suited  well  the  char- 
acter of  a  figure  which,  clothed  only  in  shirt  and  trousers, 
presented  a  perfect  picture  of  youthful  health  and  symmetry. 

"Tired,  Frank? "  asked  the  old  man,  as  he  came  up. 

"Tired,  father!  not  a  bit  of  it.  I  only  wish  I  had  as 
much  more  to  split  for  you,  since  the  winter  will  be  a 
cold  one." 

"Come  in  and  sit  down,  boy,  now,"  said  the  father, 
with  a  slight  tremor  as  he  spoke.  "AVe  cannot  have  many 
more  opportunities  of  talking  together.  To-morrow  is  the 
28th  of  November." 

"Yes;  and  I  must  be  in  Vienna  by  the  fourth,  so  Uncle 
Stephen  writes." 

"You  must  not  call  him  uncle,  Frank,  he  forbids  it 
himself;    besides,  he    is   my   uncle,    and   not   yours.     My 


12  THE  DALTONS. 

father  and  he  were  brothers,  but  never  saw  each  other  after 
fifteen  years  of  age,  when  the  Count  —  that 's  what  we 
always  called  him  —  entered  the  Austrian  service,  so  that 
we  are  all  strangers  to  each  other." 

"His  letter  does  n't  show  any  lively  desire  for  a  closer 
intimacy,"  said  the  boy,  laughing.  "A  droll  composition 
it  is,  spelling  and  all." 

"  He  left  Ireland  when  he  was  a  child,  and  lucky  he  was 
to  do  so,"  sighed  Dalton,  heavily.  "1  wish  1  had  done 
the  same." 

The  chamber  into  which  they  entered  was,  although  scru- 
pulously clean  and  neat,  marked  by  every  sign  of  poverty. 
The  furniture  was  scanty  and  of  the  humblest  kind;  the 
table  linen,  such  as  used  by  the  peasantry,  while  the  great 
jug  of  water  that  stood  on  the  board  seemed  the  very 
climax  of  narrow  fortune  in  a  land  where  the  very  poorest 
are  wine-drinkers. 

A  small  knapsack  with  a  light  travelling-cap  on  it,  and  a 
staff  beside  it,  seemed  to  attract  Dalton's  eyes  as  he  sat 
down.  "It  is  but  a  poor  equipment,  that  yonder.  Frank," 
said  he  at  last,  with  a  forced  smile. 

"The  easier  carried,"  replied  the  lad,  gayly. 

"Very  true,"  sighed  the  other.  "You  must  make  the 
journey  on  foot." 

"And  why  not,  father?  Of  what  use  all  this  good  blood, 
of  which  I  have  been  told  so  often  and  so  much,  if  it  will 
not  enable  a  man  to  compete  with  the  low-born  peasant. 
And  see  how  well  this  knapsack  sits,"  cried  he,  as  he  threw 
it  on  his  shoulder.  "I  doubt  if  the  Emperor's  pack  will 
be  as  pleasant  to  carry." 

"So  long  as  you  haven't  to  carry  a  heavy  heart,  bo}^" 
said  Dalton,  with  deep  emotion,  "I  believe  no  load  is  too 
much." 

"If  it  were  not  for  leaving  you  and  the  girls,  I  never 
could  be  happier,  never  more  full  of  hope,  father.  Why 
should  not  /  win  my  way  upward  as  Count  Stephen  has 
done?  Loyalty  and  courage  are  not  the  birthright  of  only 
one  of  our  name!  " 

"Bad  luck  was  all  the  birthright  ever  I  inherited,"  said 
the   old   man,    passionately;    "bad   luck    in   everything    I 


AN  HUMBLE   INTERIOR.  13 

touched  through  life!  Where  others  grew  rich,  I  became  a 
beggar;  where  they  found  happiness,  /  met  misery  and 
ruin!  But  it's  not  of  this  I  ought  to  be  thinking  now," 
cried  he,  changing  his  tone.  "Let  us  see,  where  are  the 
girls?"  And  so  saying,  he  entered  a  little  kitchen  which 
adjoined  the  room,  and  where,  engaged  in  the  task  of  pre- 
paring the  dinner,  was  a  girl,  who,  though  several  years 
older,  bore  a  striking  resemblance  to  the  boy.  Over  fea- 
tures that  must  once  have  been  the  very  type  of  buoyant 
gayety,  years  of  sorrow  and  suffering  had  left  their  deep 
traces,  and  the  dark  circles  around  the  eyes  betrayed  how 
deeply  she  had  known  affliction.  Ellen  Dalton's  figure  was 
faulty  for  want  of  height  in  proportion  to  her  size,  but  had 
another  and  more  grievous  defect  in  a  lameness,  which  made 
her  walk  with  the  greatest  difficulty.  This  was  the  conse- 
quence of  an  accident  when  riding,  a  horse  having  fallen 
upon  her  and  fractured  the  hip-bone.  It  was  said,  too, 
that  she  had  been  engaged  to  be  married  at  the  time,  but 
that  her  lover,  shocked  by  the  disfigurement,  had  broken 
off  the  match,  and  thus  made  this  calamity  the  sorrow  of  a 
life  long. 

"Where's  Kate?"  said  the  father,  as  he  casta  glance 
around  the  chamber. 

Ellen  drew  near,  and  whispered  a  few  words  in  his 
ear. 

"Not  in  this  dreadful  weather;  surely,  Ellen,  you  didn't 
let  her  go  out  in  such  a  night  as  this?  " 

"Hush!"  murmured  she,  "Frank  will  hear  you;  and 
remember,  father,  it  is  his  last  night  with  us." 

"Could  n't  old  Andy  have  found  the  place?  "  asked  Dal- 
ton ;  and  as  he  spoke,  he  turned  his  eyes  to  a  corner  of  the 
kitchen,  where  a  little  old  man  sat  in  a  straw  chair  peeling 
turnips,  while  he  croned  a  ditty  to  himself  in  a  low  sing- 
song tone;  his  thin,  wizened  features,  browned  by  years 
and  smoke,  his  small  scratch  wig,  and  the  remains  of  an  old 
scarlet  hunting-coat  that  he  wore,  giving  him  the  strongest 
resemblance  to  one  of  the  monkeys  one  sees  in  a  street 
exhibition. 

"Poor  Andy!"  cried  Ellen,  "he'd  have  lost  his  way 
twenty  times  before  he  got  to  the  bridge." 


14  THE  DALTONS. 

''Faith,  then,  he  must  be  greatly  altered,"  said  Dalton, 
"for  1  've  seen  him  track  a  fox  for  twenty  miles  of  ground, 
when  not  a  dog  of  the  pack  could  come  on  the  trace.  Eh, 
Andy !  "  cried  he,  aloud,  and  stooping  down  so  as  to  be 
heard  by  the  old  man,  "do  you  remember  the  cover  at 
Corral  in?  " 

"Don't  ask  him,  father,"  said  Ellen,  eagerly;  "he  cannot 
sleep  for  the  whole  night  after  his  old  memories  have  been 
awakened." 

The  spell,  however,  had  begun  to  work ;  and  the  old  man, 
letting  fall  both  knife  and  turnip,  placed  his  hands  on  his 
knees,  and  in  a  weak,  reedy  treble  began  a  strange,  monot- 
onous kind  of  air,  as  if  to  remind  himself  of  the  words, 
which,  after  a  minut*  or  two,  he  remembered  thus. — 

."  There  was  old  Tom  Whaley, 
And  Anthony  Baillie, 
And  Fitzgerald,  the  Knight  of  Glynn, 
And  Father  Clare, 
On  his  big  brown  mare, 
That  mornin'  at  Corralin  !  " 

"Well  done,  Andy!  well  done!"  exclaimed  Dalton. 
"You  're  as  fresh  as  a  four-year-old." 

"Iss! "  said  Andy,  and  went  on  with  his  song. 

"  And  Miles  O'Shea, 
On  his  cropped  tail  bay,  ' 

Was  soon  seen  ridin'  in. 
He  was  vexed  and  crossed 
At  the  light  hoar  frost, 
That  mornin'  at  Corralin." 

"Go  on,  Andy!  go  on,  my  boy!  "  exclaimed  Dalton,  in  a 
rapture  at  the  words  that  reminded  him  of  many  a  day  in 
the  field  and  manj  a  night's  carouse.  "What  comes 
next?" 

"Ay!"  cried  Andy. 

"  Says  he, '  When  the  wind 
Laves  no  scent  behind, 
To  keep  the  dogs  out 's  a  sin  ; 
I  '11  be  d — d  if  I  stay. 
To  lose  my  day, 
This  mornin'  at  Corralin.' 


AN   HUMBLE  INTERIOR.  16 

But  ye  see  he  was  out  in  his  reck'nin' !  "  cried  Andy;  "  for, 
as  if  — 

"  To  give  him  the  lie, 

There  rose  a  cry, 

As  the  hounds  came  yelpin'  in ; 

And  from  every  throat 

There  swelled  one  note. 

That  moruin'  at  Corralin." 

A  fit  of  coughing,  brought  on  by  a  vigorous  attempt  to 
imitate  the  cry  of  a  pack,  here  closed  Andy's  minstrelsy ; 
and  Ellen,  who  seemed  to  have  anticipated  some  such 
catastrophe,  now  induced  her  father  to  return  to  the  sit- 
ting-room, while  she  proceeded  to  use  those  principles  of 
domestic  medicine  —  clapping  on  the  back  and  cold  water 
—  usually  deemed  of  efficacy  in  like  cases. 

"  There  now,  no  more  singing,  but  take  up  j^our  knife 
and  do  what  I  bade  you,"  said  she,  affecting  an  air  of 
rebuke ;  while  the  old  man,  whose  perceptions  did  not  rise 
above  those  of  a  spaniel,  hung  down  his  head  in  silence. 
At  the  same  moment  the  outer  door  of  the  kitchen  opened, 
and  Kate  Dalton  entered.  Taller  and  several  years  younger 
than  her  sister,  she  was  in  the  full  pride  of  that  beauty  of 
which  blue  eyes  and  dark  hair  are  the  chief  characteristics, 
and  is  deemed  by  many  as  peculiarly  Irish.  Delicately 
fair,  and  with  features  regular  as  a  Grecian  model,  there 
was  a  look  of  brilliant,  almost  of  haughty,  defiance 
about  her,  to  which  her  gait  and  carriage  seemed  to 
contribute ;  nor  could  the  humble  character  of  her  dress, 
where  strictest  poverty  declared  itself,  disguise  the  senti- 
ment. 

"How  soon  you're  back,  dearest!"  said  Ellen,  as  she 
took  off  the  dripping  cloak  from  her  sister's  shoulders. 

"  And  only  think,  Ellen,  I  was  obliged  to  go  to  Lich- 
tenthal,  where  little  Hans  spends  all  his  evenings  in  the 
winter  season,  at  the  '  Hahn ! '  And  just  fancy  his  gallan- 
try! He  would  see  me  home,  and  would  hold  up  the 
umbrella,  too,  over  my  head,  although  it  kept  his  own  arm 
at  full  stretch ;  while,  by  the  pace  we  walked,  I  did  as  much 
for  his  legs.  It  is  very  ungrateful  to  laugh  at  him,  for  he 
said  a  hundred  pretty  things  to  me,  —  about  my  courage  to 


16  THE  DALTONS. 

venture  out  in  such  weather,  —  about  my  accent  as  I  spoke 
German,  —  and  lastly,  in  praise  of  my  skill  as  a  sculptor. 
Only  fancy,  Ellen,  what  a  humiliation  for  me  to  confess 
that  these  pretty  devices  were  yours,  and  not  mine ;  and 
that  my  craft  went  no  further  than  seeking  for  the  material 
which  your  genius  was  to  fashion." 

"Genius,  Kate!"  exclaimed  Ellen,  laughing.  "Has 
Master  Hans  been  giving  you  a  lesson  in  flattery ;  but  tell 
me  of  your  success  —  which  has  he  taken  ?  " 

"All  —  everything!"  cried  Kate;  "  for  although  at  the 
beginning  the  little  fellow  would  select  one  figure  and  then 
change  it  for  another,  it  was  easy  to  see  that  he  could  not 
bring  himself  to  part  with  any  of  them ;  now  sitting  down 
in  rapture  before  the  '  Travelling  Student,'  —  now  gazing 
delightedly  at  the  'Charcoal-Burners,'  —  but  all  his  warm- 
est enthusiasm  bursting  forth  as  I  produced  the  '  Forest 
Maiden  at  the  Well.'  He  did,  indeed,  think  the  '  Pedler ' 
too  handsome,  but  he  found  no  such  fault  with  the  Maiden  : 
and  here,  dearest,  —  here  are  the  proceeds,  for  I  told  him 
that  we  must  have  ducats  in  shining  gold  for  Frank's  new 
crimson  purse ;  and  here  they  are ;  "  and  she  held  up  a 
purse  of  gay  colors,  through  whose  meshes  the  bright  metal 
glittered. 

"Poor  Hans!"  said  Ellen,  feelingly.  "It  is  seldom 
that  so  humble  an  artist  meets  so  generous  a  patron." 

"He's  coming  to-night,"  said  Kate,  as  she  smoothed 
down  the  braids  of  her  glossy  hair  before  a  little  glass,  — 
"he's  coming  to  say  good-bye  to  Frank." 

"He  is  so  fond  of  Frank." 

"And  of  Frank's  sister  Nelly;  nay,  no  blushing,  dear- 
est ;  for  myself,  I  am  free  to  own  admiration  never  comes 
amiss,  even  when  offered  by  as  humble  a  creature  as  the 
dwarf,  Hans  Roeckle." 

"For  shame,  Kate,  for  shame!  It  is  this  idle  vanity 
that  stifles  honest  pride,  as  rank  weeds  destroy  the  soil 
for  wholesome  plants  to  live  in." 

"  It  is  very  well  for  you,  Nelly,  to  talk  of  pride,  but 
poor  things  like  myself  are  fain  to  content  themselves  with 
the  baser  metal,  and  even  put  up  with  vanity  !  There,  now, 
no  sermons,  no  seriousness;   I'll  listen  to  nothing  to-day 


AN  HUMBLE  INTERIOR.  17 

that  savors  of  sadness,  and,  as  I  hear  pa  and  Frank  laugh- 
ing,  I'll  be  of  the  party." 

The  glance  of  affection  and  admiration  which  Ellen  be- 
stowed upon  her  sister  was  not  unmixed  with  an  expres- 
sion of  painful  anxiety,  and  the  sigh  that  escaped  her  told 
with  what  tender  interest  she  watched  over  her. 

The  little  dinner,  prepared  with  more  than  usual  care, 
at  length  appeared,  and  the  family  sat  around  the  humble 
board  with  a  sense  of  happiness  dashed  by  one  only  reflec- 
tion, —  that  on  the  morrow  Frank's  place  would  be  vacant. 

Still  each  exerted  himself  to  overcome  the  sadness  of 
that  thought,  or  even  to  dally  with  it,  as  one  suggestive  of 
pleasure ;  and  when  Ellen  placed  unexpectedly  a  great  flask 
of  Margraer  before  them  to  drink  the  young  soldier's 
health,  the  zest  and  merriment  rose  to  the  highest.  Nor 
was  old  Andy  forgotten  in  the  general  joy.  A  large  bumper 
of  wine  was  put  before  him,  and  the  door  of  the  sitting- 
room  left  open,  as  if  to  let  him  participate  in  the  merry 
noises  that  prevailed  there.  How  naturally,  and  instinctively, 
too,  their  hopes  gave  color  to  all  they  said,  as  they  told 
each  other  that  the  occasion  was  a  happy  one !  that  dear 
Frank  would  soon  be  an  officer,  and  of  course  distinguished 
by  the  favor  of  some  one  high  in  power ;  and  lastly,  they 
dwelt  with  such  complacency  on  the  affectionate  regard  and 
influence  of  "  Count  Stephen  "  as  certain  to  secure  the  youth's 
advancement.  They  had  often  heard  of  the  Count's  great 
military  fame,  and  the  esteen  in  which  he  was  held  by  the 
Court  of  Vienna ;  and  now  they  speculated  on  the  delight  it 
would  afford  the  old  warrior  —  who  had  never  been  married 
himself  —  to  have  one  like  Frank,  to  assist  by  his  patronage, 
and  promote  by  his  influence,  and  with  such  enthusiasm  did 
they  discuss  the  point,  that  at  last  they  actually  persuaded 
themselves  that  Frank's  entering  the  service  was  a  species  of 
devotion  to  his  relative's  interest,  by  affording  him  an  object 
worthy  of  his  regard  and  affection. 

While  Ellen  loved  to  dwell  upon  the  great  advantages 
of  one  who  should  be  like  a  father  to  the  boy,  aiding  him 
by  wise  counsel,  and  guiding  him  in  every  difficulty,  Kate 
preferred  to  fancy  the  Count  introducing  Frank  into  all 
the  brilliant  society  of  the  splendid  capital,  presenting  him 


18  THE   DALTONS. 

to  those  whose  acquaintance  was  distinction,  and  at  once 
launching  him  into  the  world  of  fashion  and  enjoyment. 
The  promptitude  with  which  he  acceded  to  their  father's 
application  on  Frank's  behalf,  was  constantly  referred  to  as 
the  evidence  of  his  affectionate  feeling  for  the  family ;  and 
if  his  one  solitary  letter  was  of  the  very  briefest  and  driest 
of  all  epistolary  essays,  they  accounted  for  this  —  very 
naturally  —  by  the  length  of  time  which  had  elapsed  since 
he  had  either  spoken  or  written  his  native  language. 

In  the  midst  of  these  self-gratulations  and  pleasant 
fancies  the  door  opened,  and  Hans  Roeckle  appeared, 
covered  from  head  to  foot  by  a  light  hoar-frost,  that  made 
him  look  like  the  figure  with  which  an  ingenious  confec- 
tioner sometimes  decorates  a  cake.  The  dwarf  stood  staring 
at  the  signs  of  a  conviviality  so  new  and  unexpected. 

"Is  this  Christmas  time,  or  Holy  Monday,  or  the  Three 
Kings'  festival,  or  what  is  it,  that  I  see  you  all  feasting  ?  " 
cried  Hans,  shaking  the  snow  oflf  his  hat,  and  proceeding  to 
remove  a  cloak  which  he  had  draped  over  his  shoulder  in 
most  artistic  folds. 

"We  were  drinking  Frank's  health,  Master  Hans,"  said 
Dalton,  "  before  he  leaves  us.  Come  over  and  pledge  him 
too,  and  wish  him  all  success,  and  that  he  may  live  to  be  a 
good  and  valued  soldier  of  the  Emperor." 

Hans  had  by  this  time  taken  off  his  cloak,  which,  by 
mounting  on  a  chair,  he  contrived  to  hang  up,  and  now 
approached  the  table  with  great  solemnity,  a  pair  of  immense 
boots  of  Russian  leather,  that  reached  to  his  hips,  giving 
him  a  peculiarly  cumbrous  and  heavy  gait;  but  these,  as 
well  as  a  long  vest  of  rabbit  skins  that  buttoned  close  to  the 
neck,  made  his  invariable  costume  in  the  winter. 

"  I  drink,"  said  the  dwarf,  as,  filling  a  bumper,  he  turned 
to  each  of  the  company  severally  —  "I  drink  to  the  vener- 
able father  and  the  fair  maidens,  and  the  promising  youth 
of  this  good  family,  and  I  wish  them  every  blessing  good 
Christians  ought  to  ask  for ;  but  as  for  killing  and  slaying, 
for  burning  villages  and  laying  waste  cities,  I  've  no  sym- 
pathy with  these." 

"  But  you  are  speaking  of  barbarous  times,  Master 
Hans,"  said  Kate,  whose  cheek  mantled  into  scarlet  as  she 


AN  HUMBLE   INTERIOR. 


19 


spoke,  "  when  to  be  strong  was  to  be  cruel,  and  when  ill- 
disciplined  hordes  tyrannized  over  good  citizens." 

"  I  am  talking  of  soldiers,  such  as  the  world  has  ever 
seen  them,"  cried  Hans,  passionately ;  but  of  whose  mili- 
tary experiences,  it  is  but  fair  to  say,  his  own  little  toy- 
shop supplied  all  the  source.      "  AVhat   are   they?"  cried 


he,  "  but  toys  that  never  last,  whether  he  who  plays  with 
them  be  child  or  kaiser!  always  getting  smashed,  heads 
knocked  off  here,  arms  and  legs  astray  there ;  ay,  and 
strangest  of  all,  thought  most  of  when  most  disabled ! 
and  then  at  last  packed  up  in  a  box  or  a  barrack,  it  matters 
not  which,  to  be  forgotten  and  seen  no  more !  Hadst  thou 
thought  of  something  useful,  boy  —  some  good  craft,  a  Jiiger 
with  a  corkscrew  inside  of  him,  a  tailor  that  turns  into  a  pair 
of  snuffers,  a  Dutch  lady  that  makes  a  pin-cushion,  —  these 


20  THE  DALTONS. 

are  toys  people  don't  weary  of  —  but  a  soldier !  to  stand  ever 
thus  "  —  and  Hans  shouldered  the  fire-shovel,  and  stood  "  at 
the  present."  "  To  wheel  about  so  —  walk  ten  steps  here  — 
ten  back  there  —  never  so  much  as  a  glance  at  the  pretty 
girl  who  is  passing  close  beside  you."  Here  he  gave  a  look 
of  such  indescribable  tenderness  towards  Kate,  that  the 
whole  party  burst  into  a  fit  of  laughter.  "  They  would 
have  drawn  me  for  the  conscription,"  said  Hans,  proudly, 
"  but  I  was  the  only  son  of  a  widow,  and  they  could 
not." 

"  And  are  you  never  grieved  to  think  what  glorious  oppor- 
tunities of  distinction  have  been  thus  lost  to  you  ?  "  said  Kate, 
who,  notwithstanding  Ellen's  imploring  looks,  could  not 
resist  the  temptation  of  amusing  herself  with  the  dwarf's 
vanity. 

"  I  have  never  suffered  that  thought  to  weigh  upon  me," 
cried  Hans,  with  the  most  unsuspecting  simplicity.  "It  is 
true,  I  might  have  risen  to  rank  and  honors ;  but  how 
would  they  have  suited  w?e,  or  I  them?  Or  how  should  I 
have  made  those  dearest  to  me  sharers  in  a  fortune  so 
unbecoming  to  us  lill?  Think  of  poor  Hans's  old  mother, 
if  her  son  were  to  ask  her  blessing  with  a  coat  all  glitter- 
ing with  stars  and  crosses ;  and  then  think  of  her  as  I 
have  seen  her,  when  I  go,  as  I  do  every  year,  to  visit  her 
in  the  Bregentzer  Wald,  when  she  comes  out  to  meet  me 
with  our  whole  village,  proud  of  her  son,  and  yet  not 
ashamed  of  herself.  That  is  glory  —  that  is  distinction 
enough  for  Hans  Roeckle." 

The  earnestness  of  his  voice,  and  tlie  honest  manliness 
of  his  sentiments,  were  more  than  enough  to  cover  the 
venial  errors  of  a  vanity  that  was  all  simplicity.  It  is 
true  that  Hans  saw  the  world  only  through  the  medium 
of  his  own  calling,  and  that  not  a  very  exalted  one ;  but 
still  there  went  through  all  the  narrowness  of  his  views 
a  tone  of  kindliness  —  a  hearty  spirit  of  benevolence,  that 
made  his  simplicity  at  times  rise  into  something  almost 
akin  to  wisdom.  He  had  known  the  Dal  tons  as  his  ten- 
ants, and  soon  perceived  that  they  were  not  like  those 
rich  English,  from  whom  his  countr3'men  derive  such  abun- 
dant  gains.     He   saw  them   arrive   at   a   season   when   all 


AN  HUMBLE   INTERIOR,  21 

others  were  taking  their  departure,  and  detected  in  all 
their  efforts  at  economy,  not  alone  that  they  were  poor, 
but,  sadder  still,  that  they  were  of  those  who  seem  never 
to  accustom  themselves  to  the  privations  of  narrow  fortune ; 
for,  while  some  submit  in  patience  to  their  humble  lot,  with 
others  life  is  one  long  and  hard-fought  struggle,  wherein 
health,  hope,  and  temper  are  expended  in  vain.  That  the 
Daltous  maintained  a  distance  and  reserve  towards  others 
of  like  fortune  did,  indeed,  puzzle  honest  Hans,  —  perhaps 
it  displeased  him,  too,  for  he  thought  it  might  be  pride; 
but  then  their  treatment  of  himself  disarmed  that  suspicion, 
for  they  not  only  received  him  ever  cordially,  but  with  every 
sign  of  real  affection ;  and  what  was  he  to  expect  such  ?  Nor 
were  these  the  only  traits  that  fascinated  him;  for  all  the 
rugged  shell  the  kernel  was  a  heart  as  tender,  as  warm,  and 
as  full  of  generous  emotions  as  ever  beat  within  an  ampler 
breast.  The  two  sisters,  in  Hans's  eyes,  were  alike  beautiful ; 
each  had  some  grace  or  charm  that  he  had  never  met  with 
before,  nor  could  he  ever  satisfy  himself  whether  his  fancy 
was  more  taken  by  Kate's  wit  or  by  Ellen's  gentleness. 

If  anything  were  needed  to  complete  the  measure  of  his 
admiration,  their  skill  in  carving  those  wooden  figures,  which 
he  sold,  would  have  been  sufficient.  These  were  in  his  eyes 
—  nor  was  he  a  mean  connoisseur  —  high  efforts  of  genius ; 
and  Hans  saw  in  them  a  poetry  and  a  truthfulness  to  nature 
that  such  productions  rarely,  if  ever,  possess.  To  sell  such 
things  as  mere  toys,  he  regarded  as  little  short  of  a  sacrilege, 
while  even  to  part  with  them  at  all  cost  him  a  pang  like  that 
the  gold-worker  of  Florence  experienced  when  he  saw  some 
treasure  of  Benvenuto's  chisel  leave  his  possession.  Not, 
indeed,  that  honest  Hans  had  to  struggle  against  that  crimi- 
nal passion  which  prompted  the  jeweller,  even  by  deeds  of 
assassination,  to  repossess  himself  of  the  coveted  objects ; 
nay,  on  the  contrary,  he  felt  a  kindness  and  a  degree  of 
interest  towards  those  in  whose  keeping  they  were,  as  if 
some  secret  sympathy  united  them  to  each  other. 

Is  it  any  wonder  if  poor  Hans  forgot  himself  in  such 
pleasant  company,  and  sat  a  full  hour  and  a  half  longer  than 
he  ought?  To  him  the  little  intervals  of  silence  that  were 
occasionally  suffered   to  intervene   were   but   moments   of 


22  THE   DALTONS. 

dreamy  and  delicious  revery,  wherein  his  fancy  wandered 
away  in  a  thousand  pleasant  paths;  and  when  at  last  the 
watchman  —  for  remember,  good  reader,  they  were  in  that 
primitive  Germany  where  customs  change  not  too  abruptly 
—  announced  two  o'clock,  little  Hans  did  not  vouchsafe  a 
grateful  response  to  the  quaint  old  rhyme  that  was  chanted 
beneath  the  window. 

"That  little  chap  would  sit  to  the  day  of  judgment,  and 
never  ask  to  wet  his  lips,"  said  Dalton,  as  Frank  accom- 
panied the  dwarf  downstairs  to  the  street  door. 

"I  believe  he  not  only  forgot  the  hour,  but  where  he  was, 
and  everything  else,"  said  Kate. 

"And  poor  Frank!  who  should  have  been  in  bed  some 
hours  ago,"  sighed  Nelly. 

"Gone  at  last,  girls!"  exclaimed  Frank,  as  he  entered, 
laughing.  "If  it  hadn't  been  a  gust  of  wind  that  caught 
him  at  the  door,  and  carried  him  clean  away,  our  leave- 
taking  might  have  lasted  till  morning.  Poor  fellow!  he 
had  so  many  cautions  to  give  me,  —  such  mountains  of  good 
counsel ;  and  see,  here  is  a  holy  medal  he  made  me  accept. 
He  told  me  the  '  Swedes '  would  never  harm  me  so  long  as  I 
wore  it;  he  still  fancies  that  we  are  in  the  Thirty  Years' 
War." 

In  a  hearty  laugh  over  Hans  Roeckle's  political  knowl- 
edge, they  wished  each  other  an  affectionate  good-night, 
and  separated.  Frank  was  to  have  his  breakfast  by  day- 
break, and  each  sister  affected  to  leave  the  care  of  that  meal 
to  the  other,  secretly  resolving  to  be  up  and  stirring  first. 

Save  old  Andy,  there  was  not  one  disposed  to  sleep  that 
night.  All  were  too  full  of  their  own  cares.  Even  Dalton 
himself,  blunted  as  were  his  feelings  by  a  long  life  of  suffer- 
ing, his  mind  was  tortured  by  anxieties ;  and  one  sad  ques- 
tion arose  again  and  again  before  him,  without  an  answer 
ever  occurring:  "What  is  to  become  of  the  girls  when  I 
am  gone?  Without  a  home,  they  will  soon  be  without  a 
protector!  "  The  bright  fancies,  the  hopeful  visions  in 
which  the  evening  had  been  passed,  made  the  revulsion  to 
these  gloomy  thoughts  the  darker.  He  lay  with  his  hands 
pressed  upon  his  face,  while  the  hot  tears  gushed  from  eyes 
that  never  before  knew  weeping. 


AN  HUMBLE  INTERIOR.  23 

At  moments  he  half  resolved  not  to  let  Frank  depart,  but 
au  instant's  thought  showed  him  how  futile  would  be  the 
change.  It  would  be  but  leaving  him  to  share  the  poverty, 
—  to  depend  upon  the  scanty  pittance  already  too  little  for 
themselves.  "Would  Count  Stephen  befriend  the  poor 
girls?"  he  asked  himself  over  and  over;  and  in  his  diffi- 
culty he  turned  to  the  strange  epistle  in  which  the  old 
general  announced  Frank's  appointment  as  a  cadet. 

The  paper,  the  square  folding,  the  straight,  stiff  letters, 
well  suited  a  style  which  plainly  proclaimed  how  many 
years  his  English  had  lain  at  rest.     The  note  ran  thus :  — 

Graben-Wien,  Octobre  9,  18 — . 

Worthy  Sir  and  Nephew,  —  Your  kindly  greeting,  but  long- 
time-on-the-road-coming  letter  is  in  my  hands.  It  is  to  me  pleasure 
that  I  announce  the  appointment  of  your  son  as  a  Cadet  in  the 
seventh  battalion  of  the  Carl-Franz  Infanterie.  So  with,  let  him  in 
all  speed  of  time  report  himself  here  at  AVien,  before  the  War's 
Minister,  bringing  his  Tauf schein  —  Baptism's  sign  —  as  proof  of 
Individualism. 

I  am  yours,  well  to  command,  and  much-loving  kinsman, 

Graf  Dalton  von  Auersberg, 
Lieut.-General  and  Feldzeugmeister,  K.K.A. 

To  the  high  and  well-born,  the  Freiherr  v.  Dalton, 
in  Baden-Baden. 


CHAPTER  III. 


THE    FOREST   ROAD. 


This  dry  epistle  Dalton  read  and  re-read,  trying,  if  not  to 
discover  some  touch  of  kindliness  or  interest,  to  detect,  at 
least,  some  clew  to  its  writer's  nature;  but  to  no  use,  its 
quaint  formalism  baffled  all  speculation,  and  he  gave  up  the 
pursuit  in  despair.  That  "the  Count "  was  his  father's  only 
brother,  and  a  "Dalton,"  were  the  only  grains  of  comfort 
he  could  extract  from  his  meditations ;  but  he  had  lived  long 
enough  in  the  world  to  know  how  little  binding  were  the  ties 
of  kindred  when  once  slackened  by  years  and  distance. 
The  Count  might,  therefore,  regard  them  in  the  light  of 
intruders,  and  feel  the  very  reverse  of  pleasure  at  the  revival 
of  a  relationship  which  had  slept  for  more  than  half  a  cen- 
tury. Dalton's  pride  —  or  what  he  thought  his  pride  — 
revolted  against  this  thought;  for,  although  this  same  pride 
would  not  have  withheld  him  from  asking  a  favor  of  the 
Count,  it  would  have  assumed  a  most  indignant  attitude  if 
refused,  or  even  grudgingly  accorded. 

When  the  thought  first  occurred  to  him  of  applying  to  his 
uncle  in  Frank's  behalf,  he  never  hesitated  about  the  pro- 
priety of  addressing  a  request  to  one  with  whom  he  had 
never  interchanged  a  line  in  all  his  life;  and  now  he  was 
quite  ready  to  take  offence,  if  all  the  warmth  of  blood  rela- 
tionship should  not  fill  the  heart  of  him  who  had  been  an 
exile  from  home  and  family  since  his  earliest  boyhood. 

An  easy,  indolent  selfishness  had  been  the  spirit  of 
Dalton's  whole  life.  He  liked  to  keep  a  good  house,  and 
to  see  company  about  him ;  and  this  obtained  for  him  the 
reputation  of  hospitality.  He  disliked  unpopularity,  and 
dreaded  the  "bad  word  "  of  the  people;  and  hence  he  suffered 
his  tenantry  to  fall  into  arrears  and  his  estate  into  ruin. 
A  vain  rivalry  with  wealthier  neighbors  prevented  retrench- 


THE  FOREST  ROAD.  25 

ment  when  his  means  were  lessened.  The  unthinking 
selfishness  of  his  nature  was  apparent  even  in  his  marriage, 
since  it  was  in  obedience  to  an  old  pledge  extracted  years 
before  that  Miss  Godfrey  accepted  him,  and  parted  in  anger 
with  her  brother,  who  had  ever  loved  her  with  the  warmest 
affection.  Mr.  Godfrey  never  forgave  his  sister;  and  at 
his  death,  the  mysterious'  circumstances  of  which  were  never 
cleared  up,  his  estate  passed  to  a  distant  relative,  the  rich. 
Sir  Gilbert  Stafford. 

Dalton,  who  long  cherished  the  hope  of  a  reconciliation, 
saw  all  prospect  vanish  when  his  wife  died,  which  she  did, 
it  was  said,  of  a  broken  heart.  His  debts  were  already 
considerable,  and  all  the  resources  of  borrowing  and  mort- 
gage had  been  long  since  exhausted;  nothing  was  then  left 
for  him  but  an  arrangement  with  his  creditors,  which,  giving 
him  a  pittance  scarcely  above  the  very  closest  poverty, 
enabled  him  to  drag  out  life  in  the  cheap  places  of  the 
Continent;  and  thus,  for  nigh  twenty  years,  had  he  wan- 
dered about  from  Dieppe  to  Ostend,  to  Bruges,  to  Dussel- 
dorf,  to  Coblentz,  and  so  on,  among  the  small  Ducal  cities, 
till,  with  still  failing  fortune,  he  was  fain  to  seek  a  resi- 
dence for  the  winter  in  Baden,  where  house-rent,  at  least, 
would  be  almost  saved  to  him. 

The  same  apathy  that  had  brought  on  his  ruin  enabled 
him  to  bear  it.  Nothing  has  such  a  mock  resemblance  to 
wisdom  as  utter  heartlessness;  with  all  the  seeming  of  true 
philosophy,  it  assumes  a  port  and  bearing  above  the  trials 
of  the  world;  holds  on  "the  even  tenor  of  its  way,"  unde- 
terred by  the  reverses  which  overwhelm  others,  and  even 
meets  the  sternest  frowns  of  fortune  with  the  bland  smile  of 
equanimity. 

In  this  way  Dalton  had  deceived  many  who  had  known 
him  in  better  days,  and  who  now  saw  him,  even  in  his 
adversity,  with  the  same  careless,  good-natured  look,  as 
when  he  took  the  field  with  his  own  hounds,  or  passed 
round  the  claret  at  his  own  table.  Even  his  own  children 
were  sharers  in  this  delusion,  and  heard  him  with  wonder- 
ing admiration,  as  he  told  of  the  life  he  used  to  lead,  and 
the  style  he  once  kept  up  at  Mount  Dalton.  These  were  his 
favorite  topics ;  and,  as  he  grew  older,  he  seemed  to  find  a 


26  THE  DALTONS. 

kind  of  consolation  in  contrasting  all  the  hard  rubs  of 
present  adversity  with  his  once  splendor. 

Upon  Ellen  Dalton,  who  had  known  and  could  still 
remember  her  mother,  these  recitals  produced  an  impression 
of  profound  grief,  associated  as  they  were  with  the  suffer- 
ings of  a  sick-bed  and  the  closing  sorrows  of  a  life ;  while, 
in  the  others,  they  served  to  keep  up  a  species  of  pride  of 
birth,  and  an  assumption  of  superiority  to  others  of  like 
fortune,  which  their  father  gloried  in,  representing,  as  he 
used  to  say,  "the  old  spirit  of  the  Dal  tons." 

As  for  Kate,  she  felt  it  a  compensation  for  present  pov- 
erty to  know  that  they  were  of  gentle  blood,  and  that  if 
fortune,  at  some  distant  future,  would  deal  kindly  by  them, 
to  think  that  they  should  not  obtrude  themselves  like 
upstarts  on  the  world,  but  resume,  as  it  were,  the  place  that 
was  long  their  own. 

In  Frank  the  evil  had  taken  a  deeper  root.  Taught  from 
his  earliest  infancy  to  believe  himself  the  heir  of  an  ancient 
house,  pride  of  birth  and  station  instilled  into  his  mind  by 
old  Andy,  the  huntsman,  the  only  dependant,  whom,  with 
characteristic  wisdom,  they  had  carried  with  them  from 
Ireland,  he  never  ceased  to  ponder  on  the  subject,  and 
wonder  within  himself  if  he  should  live  to  have  "his  own  " 
again. 

Such  a  hold  had  this  passion  taken  of  him,  that,  even  as 
a  child,  he  would  wander  away  for  days  long  into  lonely 
and  unfrequented  spots,  thinking  over  the  stories  he  had 
heard,  and  trying  to  conjure  up  before  his  eyes  some  resem- 
blance to  that  ancient  house  and  venerable  domain  which  had 
been  so  long  in  his  family.  It  was  no  part  of  his  teaching 
to  know  by  what  spendthrift  and  reckless  waste,  by  what 
a  long  career  of  folly,  extravagance,  and  dissipation,  the 
fortune  of  his  family  had  been  wrecked;  or  rather,  many 
vague  and  shadowy  suspicions  had  been  left  to  fester  in  his 
mind  of  wrongs  and  injuries  done  them;  of  severe  laws 
imposed  by  English  ignorance  or  cruelty;  of  injustice,  on 
this  hand  —  heartless  indifference  of  friends  on  the  other; 
the  unrelenting  anger  of  his  uncle  Godfrey  filling  up  the 
measure  of  their  calamities.  Frank  Dalton's  education 
went  very  little  further  than  this;  but,  bad  as  it  was,  its 


THE  FOREST  ROAD.  27 

effect  was  blunted  by  the  natural  frankness  and  generosity 
of  his  character,  its  worst  fruits  being  an  over-estimate  of 
himself  and  his  pretensions, —  errors  which  the  world  has 
always  the  watchful  kindness  to  correct  in  those  M^ho  wear 
threadbare  coats  and  patched  boots. 

He  was  warmly  and  devotedly  attached  to  his  father  and 
sisters,  and  whatever  bitterness  found  its  way  into  his  heart 
was  from  seeing  them  enduring  the  many  trials  of  poverty. 

All  his  enthusiasm  for  the  service  in  which  he  was  about 
to  enter  was,  therefore,  barely  sufficient  to  overcome  the 
sorrow  of  parting  with  those,  whom  alone  of  all  the  world 
he  loved ;  and  when  the  moment  drew  nigh  for  his  depar- 
ture, he  forgot  the  bright  illusions  by  which  he  had  so 
often  fed  his  hopes,  and  could  only  think  of  the  grief 
of  separation. 

His  candle  had  burned  down  nearly  to  the  socket,  when 
he  arose  and  looked  at  his  watch.  It  was  all  dark  as  mid- 
night without,  although  nigh  six  o'clock.  He  opened  the 
window,  and  a  thin  snowdrift  came  slanting  in,  borne  on  a 
cutting  north  wind ;  he  closed  it  hastily,  and  shuddered  as 
he  thought  of  the  long  and  lonely  march  before  iiim.  All 
was  silent  in  the  house  as  he  dressed  himself  and  prepared 
for  the  road.  With  noiseless  step  he  drew  near  his  father's 
door  and  listened ;  everything  was  still.  He  could  not  bring 
himself  to  disturb  him,  so  he  passed  on  to  the  room  where 
his  sisters  slept.  The  door  lay  ajar,  and  a  candle  was  burn- 
ing on  the  table.  Frank  entered  on  tiptoe  and  drew  near 
the  bed,  but  it  was  empty  and  had  not  been  lain  in.  As  he 
turned  round  he  beheld  Kate  asleep  in  a  chair,  dressed  as 
he  had  last  seen  her.  She  had  never  lain  down,  and  the 
prayer-book,  which  had  dropped  from  her  hand,  told  how 
her  last  waking  moments  were  passed. 

He  kissed  her  twice,  but  even  the  hot  tears  that  fell  from 
his  eyes  upon  her  cheek  did  not  break  her  slumber.  He 
looked  about  him  for  some  token  to  leave,  that  might  tell 
he  had  been  there,  but  there  was  nothing,  and,  with  a  low 
sigh,  he  stole  from  the  room. 

As  he  passed  out  into  the  kitchen,  Ellen  was  there.  She 
had  already  prepared  his  breakfast,  and  was  spreading  the 
table  when  he  entered. 


28  THE  DALTONS. 

•'How  good  of  you  —  how  kind,  Ellen,"  said  he,  as  he 
passed  his  arm  around  her  neck. 

"Hush,  Frank,  they  are  both  sleeping.  Poor  papa  never 
closed  his  eyes  till  half  an  hour  ago,  and  Kate  was  fairly 
overcome  ere  she  yielded." 

"You  will  say  that  I  kissed  them,  Nelly, —  kissed  them 
twice,"  said  he,  in  a  low,  broken  voice,  "and  that  I 
could  n't  bear  to  awake  them.  Leave-taking  is  so  sorrow- 
ful. Oh,  Ellen,  if  1  knew  that  you  were  all  happy, —  that 
there  were  no  hardships  before  you,  when  I  'm  away!  " 

"And  why  should  we  not,  Frank?"  said  she,  firmly. 
"There  is  no  dishonor  in  this  poverty,  so  long  as  there 
are  no  straits  to  make  it  seem  other  than  it  is.  Let  us 
rather  pray  for  the  spirit  that  may  befit  any  lot  we  are 
thrown  in,  than  for  a  fortune  to  which  we  might  be 
unsuited." 

"Would  you  forget  who  we  are,  Ellen?"  said  he,  half 
reproachfully. 

"I  would  remember  it,  Frank,  in  a  temper  less  of  pride 
than  humility." 

"I  do  not  see  much  of  the  family  spirit  in  all  this," 
rejoined  he,  almost  angrily. 

"The  family  spirit,"  echoed  she,  feelingly.  "What  has 
it  ever  done  for  us,  save  injury?  Has  it  suggested  a  high- 
bearing  courage  against  the  ills  of  narrow  fortune?  Has  it 
told  us  how  to  bear  poverty  with  dignity,  or  taught  us  one 
single  lesson  of  patience  and  submission?  Or  has  it,  on 
the  contrary,  been  ever  present  to  whisper  the  changes  in 
our  condition  —  how  altered  our  lot  —  making  us  ashamed  of 
that  companionship  which  our  station  rendered  possible  for 
us,  and  leaving  us  in  the  isolation  of  friendlessness  for  the 
sake  of  —  I  blush  to  abuse  the  word  —  our  Pride!  Oh, 
Frank,  my  dear,  dear  brother,  take  it  not  ill  of  me,  that  in 
our  last  moments  together,  perhaps  for  years,  I  speak  what 
may  jar  upon  your  ears  to  hear;  but  remember  that  I  am 
much  older,  —  that  I  have  seen  far  more  of  the  world,  at 
least  of  its  sorrows  and  cares,  than  you  have.  I  have  in- 
deed known  affliction  in  many  ways,  but  have  never  found 
a  poorer  comforter  in  its  troubles  than  what  we  call  our 
Pride!" 


THE   FOREST  ROAD. 


29 


"You  would  have  me  forget  I  am  a  Dalton,  then?"  said 
the  boy,  in  a  tone  of  sorrowful  meaning. 

"Never!  when  the  recollection  could  prompt  a  generous 
or  a  noble  action,  a  manly  ambition,  or  a  high-hearted 
thought;  but  the  name  will  have  no  spell  in  it,  if  used  to 


instil  an  imperious,  discontented  spirit, —  a  regretful  con- 
trast of  what  we  are,  with  what  we  might  have  been,  or 
what,  in  a  worldly  sense,  is  more  destructive  still,  —  a  false 
reliance  on  the  distinction  of  a  family  to  which  we  have 
contributed  nothing." 

"You  do  not  know,  Nelly  dearest,  of  what  a  comfort  you 
have  robbed  me,"  said  Frank,  sorrowfully. 

"Do  not  say  so,  my  dearest  brother,"  cried  she,  passing 


30  THE  DALTONS. 

her  arm  around  him;  "a  deception,  a  mere  illusion,  is 
unworthy  of  that  name.  Look  above  the  gratification  of 
mere  vanity,  and  you  will  become  steeled  against  the  many 
wounds  self-love  is  sure  to  receive  in  intercourse  with  the 
world.  I  cannot  tell  how,  or  with  what  associates,  you  are 
about  to  live,  but  I  feel  certain  that  in  every  station  a  man 
of  truth  and  honor  will  make  himself  respected.  Be  such, 
dearest  Frank.  If  family  pride  —  if  the  name  of  Dalton 
have  value  in  your  eyes,  remember  that  upon  you  it  rests  to 
assert  its  right  to  distinction.  If,  as  I  would  fondly  hope, 
your  heart  dwells  here  with  us,  bethink  ye  what  joy  —  what 
holy  gratitude  you  will  diffuse  around  our  humble  hearth  — 
to  know  that  our  brother  is  a  good  man." 

It  was  some  moments  ere  either  could  speak  again. 
Emotions,  very  different  ones,  perhaps,  filled  their  hearts, 
and  each  was  too  deeply  moved  for  words.  Frank's  eyes 
were  full  of  tears,  and  his  cheek  quivering,  as  he  threw  his 
knapsack^on  his  shoulder. 

"You  will  write  from  Innspruck,  Frank;  but  how  many 
days  will  it  take  ere  you  reach  that  city?" 

"Twelve  or  fourteen  at  least,  if  I  go  on  foot.  There, 
Nelly,  do  not  help  me,  dearest;  I  shall  not  have  you  to- 
morrow to  fasten  these  straps." 

"This  is  not  to  be  forgotten,  Frank;  it's  Kate's  present. 
How  sorry  she  will  be  not  to  have  given  it  with  her  own 
hands !  "  And  so  saying,  she  gave  him  the  purse  her  sister 
had  worked. 

"But  there  is  gold  in  it,"  said  the  boy,  growing  pale  with 
emotion. 

"Very  little,  Frank  dearest,"  replied  she,  smiling.  "A 
cadet  must  always  have  gold  in  his  purse,  so  little  Hans 
tells  us;  and  you  know  how  wise  he  is  in  all  these 
matters." 

"And  is  it  from  a  home  like  this  that  I  am  to  take  gold 
away !  "  cried  he,  passionately. 

"Nay,  Frank,  you  must  not  persuade  us  that  we  are  so 
very  poor.  I  will  not  consent  to  any  sense  of  martyrdom,  I 
promise  you."  It  was  not  without  difficulty  she  could  over- 
come his  scruples ;  nor,  perhaps,  had  she  succeeded  at  all, 
if  his  thoughts  had  not  been  diverted  into  another  channel 


TfiE  FOREST   ROAD.  31 

by  a  light  tapping  at  tlie  door.  It  was  Hans  Roeckle  come 
to  awake  him. 

Again  and  again  the  brother  and  sister  embraced;  and 
in  a  very  agony  of  tears  Frank  tore  himself  away,  and  has- 
tened down  the  stairs.  The  next  moment  the  heavy  house 
door  banged  loudly,  and  he  was  gone. 

Oh,  the  loneliness  of  mind  in  which  he  threaded  his  way 
through  the  dark  and  narrow  streets,  where  the  snow 
already  lay  deeply!  With  what  sinking  of  the  heart  he 
turned  to  look  for  the  last  time  at  the  window  where  the 
light  —  the  only  one  to  be  seen — still  glimmered.  How 
little  could  all  the  promptings  of  hope  suffice  against  the  sad 
and  dark  reality  that  he  was  leaving  all  he  loved,  and  all 
who  loved  him,  to  adventure  upon  a  world  where  all  was 
bleak  and  friendless! 

But  not  all  his  dark  forebodings  could  equal  hers  from 
whom  he  had  just  parted.  Loving  her  brother  with  an 
affection  more  like  that  of  mother  than  sister,  she  had  often 
thought  over  the  traits  of  his  character,  where,  with  many  a 
noble  gift,  the  evil  seeds  of  wrong  teaching  had  left,  like 
tall  weeds  among  flowers,  the  baneful  errors  of  inordinate 
self-esteem  and  pride.  Ignorant  of  the  career  on  which  he 
was  about  to  enter,  Ellen  could  but  speculate  vaguely  how 
such  a  character  would  be  esteemed,  and  whether  his  native 
frankness  and  generosity  would  cover  over,  or  make  appear 
as  foibles,  these  graver  faults.  Their  own  narrow  fortunes, 
the  very  straits  and  privations  of  poverty,  with  all  their 
cruel  wounds  to  honest  pride,  and  all  their  sore  trials  of 
temper,  she  could  bear  up  against  with  an  undaunted  cour- 
age. She  had  learned  her  lesson  in  the  only  school  wherein 
it  is  taught,  and  daily  habit  had  instilled  its  own  powers  of 
endurance;  but,  for  Frank,  her  ambition  hoped  a  higher  and 
brighter  destiny,  and  now,  in  her  solitude,  and  with  a  swell- 
ing heart,  she  knelt  down  and  prayed  for  him.  And,  oh! 
if  the  utterings  of  such  devotion  never  rise  to  Heaven  or 
meet  acceptance  there,  they  at  least  bring  balm  to  the  spirit 
of  him  who  syllables  them,  building  up  a  hope  whose  foun- 
dations are  above  the  casualties  of  humanity,  and  giving  a 
courage  that  mere  self-reliance  never  gave. 

Little  Hans  not  only  came  to  awaken  Frank,  but  to  give 


32  THE  DALTONS/ 

him  companionship  for  some  miles  of  his  way,  —  a  thoughtful 
kindness,  for  which  the  youth's  deep  preoccupation  seemed 
to  offer  but  a  poor  return.  Indeed,  Frank  scarcely  knew 
that  he  was  not  travelling  in  utter  solitude,  and  all  the  skil- 
ful devices  of  the  worthy  dwarf  to  turn  the  channel  of  his 
thoughts  were  fruitless.  Had  there  been  sufficient  light  to 
have  surveyed  the  equipment  of  his  companion,  it  is  more 
than  probable  that  the  sight  would  have  done  more  to  pro- 
duce this  diversion  of  gloom  than  any  arguments  which 
could  have  been  used.  Master  Roeckle,  whose  mind  was  a 
perfect  storehouse  of  German  horrors,  earthly  and  unearthly, 
and  who  imagined  that  a  great  majority  of  the  human 
population  of  the  globe  were  either  bandits  or  witches,  had 
surrounded  himself  with  a  whole  museum  of  amulets  and 
charms  of  various  kinds.  In  his  cap  he  wore  the  tail  of  a 
black  squirrel,  as  a  safeguard  against  the  "Forest  Imp;" 
a  large  dried  toad  hung  around  his  neck,  like  an  order,  to 
protect  him  from  the  evil  eye;  a  duck's  foot  was  fastened 
to  the  tassel  of  his  boot,  as  a  talisman  against  drowning; 
while  strings  of  medals,  coins,  precious  stones,  blessed 
beads,  and  dried  insects,  hung  round  and  about  him  in 
every  direction.  Of  all  the  portions  of  his  equipment, 
however,  what  seemed  the  most  absurd  was  a  huge  pole-axe 
of  the  fifteenth  century,  and  which  he  carried  as  a  defence 
against  mere  mortal  foes,  but  which,  from  its  weight  and 
size,  appeared  far  more  likely  to  lay  its  bearer  low  than 
inflict  injury  upon  others.  It  had  been  originally  stored  up 
in  the  Rust  Kammer,  at  Prague,  and  was  said  to  be  the 
identical  weapon  with  which  Conrad  slew  the  giant  at  Leut- 
meritz,  —  a  fact  which  warranted  Hans  in  expending  two 
hundred  florins  in  purchasing  it;  as,  to  use  his  own 
emphatic  words,  "it  was  not  every  day  one  knew  where  to 
find  the  weapon  to  bring  down  a  giant." 

As  Hans,  encumbered  by  his  various  adjuncts,  trotted 
along  beside  his  stalwart  companion,  he  soon  discovered 
that  all  his  conversational  ability  —  to  exert  which  cost 
him  so  dearly  —  was  utterly  unattended  to ;  he  fell  into  a 
moody  silence,  and  thus  they  journeyed  for  miles  of  way 
without  interchanging  a  word.  At  last  they  came  in  sight 
of  the  little  village  of  Hernitz  Kretschen,  whence  by  a  by- 


THE   FOREST  ROAD.  83 

road  Frank  was  to  reach  the  regular  line  that  leads  through 
the  Hohlen  Thai  to  the  Lake  of  Constance,  and  where  they 
were  to  part. 

"I  feel  as  though  I  could  almost  go  all  the  way  with  you," 
said  Hans,  as  they  stopped  to  gaze  upon  the  little  valley 
where  lay  the  village,  and  beyond  which  stretched  a  deep 
forest  of  dark  pine-trees,  traversed  by  a  single  road. 

"Nay,  Hans,"  said  Frank,  smiling,  as  for  the  first  time 
he  beheld  the  strange  figure  beside  him;  "you  must  go 
back  to  your  pleasant  little  village  and  live  happily,  to  do 
many  a  kindness  to  others,  as  you  have  done  to  me 
to-dayl" 

"I  would  like  to  take  service  with  the  Empress  myself," 
said  Hans,  "if  it  were  for  some  good  and  great  cause,  — 
like  the  defence  of  the  Church  against  the  Turks,  or  the 
extermination  of  the  race  of  dragons  that  infest  the  Lower 
Danube." 

"But  you  forget,  Hans,  it  is  an  Emperor  rules  over 
Austria  now,"  said  Frank,  preferring  to  offer  a  correction 
to  the  less  startling  of  his  hallucinations. 

"No,  no.  Master  Frank,  they  have  not  deposed  the  good 
Maria  Teresa,  —  they  would  never  do  that.  I  saw  her  pic- 
ture over  the  doorwaj'  of  the  Burgermeister  the  last  time  I 
went  to  visit  my  mother  in  the  Bregertzer  Wald,  and  by  the 
same  token  her  crown  and  sceptre  were  just  newly  gilt,  —  a 
thing  they  would  not  have  done  if  she  were  not  on  the 
throne. " 

"What  if  she  were  dead,  and  her  son  too?  "  said  Frank; 
but  his  words  were  scarce  uttered  when  he  regretted  to  have 
said  them,  so  striking  was  the  change  that  came  over  the 
dwarf's  features. 

"If  that  were  indeed  true.  Heaven  have  mercy  on  us!" 
exclaimed  he,  piously.  "Old  Frederick  will  have  but  little 
pity  for  good  Catholics!  But  no.  Master  Frank,  this  cannot 
be.  The  last  time  I  received  soldiers  from  Nuremberg 
they  wore  the  same  uniforms  as  ever,  and  the  '  Moriamur 
pro  Rege  nostro,  M.  T.'  was  in  gold  letters  on  every  banner 
as  before." 

Frank  was  in  no  humor  to  disturb  so  innocent  and  so 
pleasing  a  delusion,  and  he  gave  no  further  opposition ;  and 

VOL.   I.  —  3 


34  THE  DALTONS. 

now  they  both  descended  the  path  which  led  to  the  little  inn 
of  the  village.  Here  Hans  insisted  on  performing  the  part 
of  host,  and  soon  the  table  was  covered  with  brown  bread 
and  hard  eggs,  and  those  great  massive  sausages  which 
Germans  love,  together  with  various  flasks  of  Margrafler 
and  other  "Badisch"  wines. 

"  Who  knows,"  said  Hans,  as  he  pledged  his  guest  by  ring- 
ing his  wine-glass  against  the  other's,  "if,  when  we  meet 
again,  thou  wouldst  sit  down  at  the  table  with  such  as  me? '' 

"How  so,  Hanserl?"  asked  the  boy,  in  astonishment. 

"I  mean,  Master  Franz,  that  you  may  become  a  colonel, 
or  perhaps  a  general,  with,  mayhap,  the  '  St.  Joseph '  at 
your  button-hole,  or  the  '  Maria  Teresa  '  around  your  neck ; 
and  if  so,  how  could  you  take  your  place  at  the  board  with 
the  poor  toy-maker?" 

"I  am  not  ashamed  to  do  so  now,"  said  Frank,  haugh- 
tily; "and  the  Emperor  cannot  make  me  more  a  gentleman 
than  my  birth  has  done.  Were  I  to  be  ashamed  of  those 
who  befriended  me,  I  should  both  disgrace  my  rank  and 
name  together." 

"These  are  good  words,  albeit  too  proud  ones,"  said 
Hans,  thoughtfully.  "As  a  guide  through  life,  pride  will 
do  well  enough  when  the  roads  are  good  and  your  equipage 
costly;  but  when  you  come  upon  mountain-paths  and  stony^ 
tracts,  with  many  a  wild  torrent  to  cross,  and  many  a  dark 
glen  to  traverse,  humility  —  even  a  child's  humility  —  will 
give  better  teaching." 

"I  have  no  right  to  be  other  than  humble!  "  said  the  boy; 
but  the  flashing  brightness  of  his  eyes,  and  the  heightened 
color  of  his  cheek,  seemed  to  contradict  his  words. 

For  a  while  the  conversation  flagged,  or  was  maintained  in 
short  and  broken  sentences,  when  at  length  Frank  said,  — 

"You  will  often  go  to  see  them,  Hanserl,  won't  you? 
You'll  sit  with  them,  too,  of  an  evening?  for  they  will  feel 
lonely  now ;  and  my  father  will  like  to  tell  j^ou  his  stories 
about  home,  as  he  calls  it  still." 

"That  will  I,"  said  Hans;  "they  are  the  happiest  hours 
of  my  life  when  I  sit  beside  that  hearth." 

Frank  drew  his  hand  across  his  eyes,  and  his  lips  quiv- 
ered as  he  tried  to  speak. 


THE  FOREST  ROAD.  35 

"You'll  be  kind  to  poor  Ellen,  too;  she  is  so  timid, 
Hans.  You  cannot  believe  how  anxious  she  is,  lest  her 
little  carvings  should  be  thought  unworthy  of  praise." 

"They  are  gems!  they  are  treasures  of  art!"  cried 
Hans,  enthusiastically. 

"  And  my  sweet  Kate !  "  cried  the  boy,  as  his  eyes  ran  over, 
while  a  throng  of  emotions  seemed  to  stop  his  utterance. 

"She  is  so  beautiful!"  exclaimed  Hans,  fervently. 
"  Except  the  Blessed  Maria  at  the  Holy  Cross,  I  never 
beheld  such  loveliness.  There  is  the  Angelus  ringing;  let 
us  pray  a  blessing  on  them ;  "  and  they  both  knelt  down 
in  deep  devotion.  Frank's  lips  never  moved,  but  with  ' 
swelling  heart  and  clasped  hands  he  remained  fixed  as  a 
statue;  while  Hanserl  in  some  quaint  old  rhyme  uttered 
his  devotions. 

"  And  yonder  is  the  dog-star,  bright  and  splendid,"  said 
Hans,  as  he  arose.  "  There  never  was  a  happier  omen  for 
the  beginning  of  a  journey.  You  '11  be  luckj',  boy ;  there 
is  the  earnest  of  good  fortune.  That  same  star  was  shin- 
ing along  the  path  as  I  entered  Baden,  eighteen  years  ago ; 
and  see  what  a  lucky  life  has  mine  been  I  " 

Frank  could  not  but  smile  at  the  poor  dwarf's  apprecia- 
tion of  his  fortune ;  but  Hanserl's  features  wore  a  look  that 
betokened  a  happy  and  contented  nature. 

"And  yours  has  been  a  lucky  life,  Hanserl?"  said  he, 
half  in  question. 

"Lucky?  ay,  that  has  it.  I  was  a  poor  boy,  barefooted 
and  hungry  in  my  native  forest  —  deformed,  and  stunted, 
too  —  a  thing  to  pity  —  too  weak  to  work,  and  with  none  to 
teach  me,  and  yet  even  I  was  not  forgotten  by  Him  who 
made  the  world  so  fair  and  beautiful ;  but  in  my  heart  was 
planted  a  desire  to  be  something  —  to  do  something,  that 
others  might  benefit  by.  The  children  used  to  mock  me 
as  I  passed  along  the  road ;  but  a  voice  whispered  within 
me,  '  Be  of  courage,  Hanserl,  they  will  bless  thee  yet,  — 
they  will  greet  thee  with  many  a  merry  laugh  and  joyous  cry, 
and  call  thee  their  own  kind  Hanserl : '  and  so  have  I  lived 
to  see  it !  My  name  is  far  and  wide  over  Germany.  Little 
boys  and  girls  know  and  speak  of  me  amongst  the  first 
words  they  syllable ;    and  from  the  palace  to  the  bauer's 


36  THE  DALTONS. 

hut,  Hans  Roeckle  has  his  friends;  and  who  knows  that 
when  this  poor  clay  is  mingled  with  the  earth,  but  that  my 
spirit  will  hover  around  the  Christmas-tree  when  glad  voices 
call  upon  me!     I  often  think  it  will  be  so." 

Frank's  eyes  glistened  as  he  gazed  upon  the  dwarf,  who 
spoke  with  a  degree  of  emotion  and  feeling  very  different 
from  his  wont. 

"So  you  see.  Master  Franz,"  said  he,  smiling,  "there 
are  ambitions  of  every  hue,  and  this  of  mine  you  may  deem 
of  the  very  faintest,  but  it  is  enough  for  me.  Had  I  been 
a  great  painter,  or  a  poet,  I  would  have  revelled  in  the 
thought  that  my  genius  adorned  the  walls  of  many  a  noble 
palace,  and  that  my  verses  kindled  emotions  in  many  a 
heart  that  felt  like  my  own ;  but  as  one  whom  nature  has 
not  gifted,  —  poor,  ignoble,  and  unlettered,  —  am  I  not 
lucky  to  have  found  a  little  world  of  joyous  hearts  and 
merry  voices,  who  care  for  me  ^  and  speak  of  me,  ay,  and 
who  would  give  me  a  higher  place  in  their  esteem  than  to 
Jean  Paul,  or  Goethe  himself?" 

The  friends  had  but  time  to  pledge  each  other  in  a  part- 
ing glass,  when  the  stage  drove  up  by  which  Hans  was  to 
return  to  Baden.  A  few  hurried  words,  half  cheering,  half 
sorrowful,  —  a  close  embrace,  —  one  long  and  lingering 
squeeze  of  the  hand,  — 

"  Farewell,  kind  Hanserl !  "  — 

"God  guide  thee,  Franz!" — and  they  parted. 

Frank  stood  in  the  little  "  Platz,"  where  the  crowd  yet 
lingered,  watching  the  retiring  "Post,"  uncertain  which, 
way  to  turn  him.  He  dreaded  to  find  himself  all  alone, 
and  yet  he  shrank  from  new  companionship.  The  newly 
risen  moon  and  the*  calm  air  invited  him  to  pursue  his 
road ;  so  he  set  out  once  more,  the  very  exercise  being  a 
relief  against  his  sad  thoughts. 

Few  words  are  more  easily  spoken  than  "  He  went  to  seek 
his  fortune ;  "  and  what  a  whole  world  lies  within  the  narrow 
compass !  A  world  of  high-hearted  hopes  and  doubting 
fear, — of  noble  ambition  to  be  won,  and  glorious  paths  to 
be  trod,  mingled  with  tender  thoughts  of  home  and  those 
who  made  it  such.  What  sustaining  courage  must  be  his 
who  dares  this  course  and  braves  that  terrible  conflict  —  the; 


THE  FOREST  ROAD.  37 

toughest  that  ever  man  fought  —  between  his  own  bright 
coloring  of  life  and  the  stern  reality  of  the  world  !  How 
many  hopes  has  he  to  abandon,  —  how  many  illusions  to  give 
up !  How  often  is  his  faith  to  be  falsified  and  his  trustful- 
ness betrayed;  and,  worst  of  all,  what  a  fatal  change  do 
these  trials  impress  upon  himself,  —  how  different  is  he  from 
what  he  had  been ! 

Young  and  untried  as  Frank  Dalton  was  in  life,  he  was 
not  altogether  unprepared  for  the  vicissitudes  that  awaited 
him;  his  sister  Nelly's  teachings  had  done  much  to  temper 
the  over-buoyant  spirit  of  his  nature,  and  make  him  feel  that 
he  must  draw  upon  that  same  courage  to  sustain  the  present, 
rather  than  to  gild  the  future. 

His  heart  was  sorrowful,  too,  at  leaving  a  home  where 
unitedly  they  had,  perhaps,  borne  up  better  against  poverty. 
He  felt  —  for  his  own  heart  revealed  it  —  how  much  can  be 
endured  in  companionship,  and  how  the  burden  of  misfor- 
tune—  like  every  other  load  —  is  light  when  many  bear  it. 
Now  thinking  of  these  things,  now  fancying  the  kind  of  life 
that  might  lie  before  him,  he  marched  along.  Then  he 
wondered  whether  the  Count  would  resemble  his  father. 
The  Daltons  were  remarkable  for  strong  traits  of  family 
likeness,  not  alone  in  feature,  but  in  character;  and  what 
a  comfort  Frank  felt  in  fancying  that  the  old  general 
would  be  a  thorough  Dalton  in  frankness  and  kindliness 
of  nature,  easy  in  disposition,  with  all  the  careless  freedom 
of  his  own  father !  How  he  should  love  him,  as  one  of 
themselves ! 

It  is  a  well-known  fact,  that  certain  families  are  remark- 
able above  others  for  the  importance  that  they  attach  to  the 
ties  of  kindred,  making  the  boast  of  relationship  always 
superior  to  the  claims  of  self-formed  friendships.  This  is 
perhaps  more  peculiarly  the  case  among  those  who  live  little 
in  the  world,  and  whose  daily  sayings  and  doings  are  chiefly 
confined  to  the  narrow  circle  of  home.  But  yet  it  is  singular 
how  long  this  prejudice  —  for  perhaps  it  deserves  no  better 
name — can  stand  the  conflict  of  actual  life.  The  Daltons 
were  a  special  instance  of  what  we  mean.  Certain  character- 
istics of  look  and  feature  distinguished  them  all,  and  they 
all  agreed  in  maintaining  the  claim  of  relationship  as  the 


38  THE  DALTONS. 

strongest  bond  of  union ;  and  it  was  strange  into  how  many 
minor  channels  this  stream  meandered.  Every  old  ruin, 
every  monument,  every  fragment  of  armor,  or  ancient  vol- 
ume associated  with  their  name,  assumed  a  kind  of  religious 
value  in  their  eyes,  and  the  word  Dalton  was  a  talisman  to 
exalt  the  veriest  trifle  into  the  rank  of  relic.  From  his 
earliest  infancy  Frank  had  been  taught  these  lessons.  They 
were  the  traditions  of  the  parlor  and  the  kitchen,  and  by  the 
mere  force  of  repetition  became  a  part  of  his  very  nature. 
Corrig-O'Neal  was  the  theme  of  every  story.  The  ancient 
house  of  the  family,  and  which,  although  by  time's  changes 
it  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  Godfreys  —  from  whom 
his  mother  came  —  was  yet  regarded  with  all  the  feelings  of 
ancient  pride.  Over  and  over  again  was  he  told  of  the  once 
princely  state  that  his  ancestors  held  there,  —  the  troops  of 
retainers,  —  the  mounted  followers  that  ever  accompanied 
them.  The  old  house  itself  was  exalted  to  the  rank  of  a 
palace,  and  its  wide-spreading  but  neglected  grounds  spoken 
of  like  the  park  of  royalty. 

To  see  this  old  house  of  his  fathers,  to  behold  with  his 
own  eyes  the  seat  of  their  once  greatness,  became  the  pas- 
sion of  the  boy's  heart.  Never  did  the  Bedouin  of  the 
Desert  long  after  Mecca  with  more  heart-straining  desire. 
To  such  a  pitch  had  this  passion  gained  on  him,  that,  unable 
any  longer  to  resist  an  impulse  that  neither  left  his  thoughts 
by  day  nor  his  dreams  by  night,  he  fled  from  his  school  at 
Bruges,  and  when  only  ten  years  old  made  his  way  to 
Ostend,  and  under  pretence  of  seeking  a  return  to  his  family, 
persuaded  the  skipper  of  a  trading- vessel  to  give  him  a  pas- 
sage to  Limerick.  It  would  take  us  too  far  from  our  road 
—  already  a  long  one  —  were  we  to  follow  his  wanderings 
and  tell  of  all  the  difficulties  that  beset  the  little  fellow  on 
his  lonely  journey.  Enough  that  we  say,  he  did  at  last 
reach  the  goal  of  his  hopes,  and,  after  a  journey  of  eight 
long  days,  find  himself  at  the  ancient  gate  of  Corrig-O'Neal. 

At  first  the  disappointment  was  dreadful.  The  proud 
mansion,  of  whose  glorious  splendor  his  imagination  had 
created  an  Oriental  palace,  was  an  antiquated  brick  edifice, 
in  front  of  which  ran  a  long  terrace,  once  adorned  with 
statues,  but  of  which  the  pedestals  alone  remained.     A  few 


THE  FOREST  ROAD.  89 

hedges  of  yew,  with  here  and  there  the  fragments  of  a 
marble  figure  or  fountain,  showed  that  the  old  French 
chateau  taste  had  once  prevailed  there ;  and  of  this  a  quaint 
straight  avenue  of  lime-trees,  reaching  directly  from  the 
door  to  the  river,  also  bore  evidence.  The  tone  of  sadness 
and  desertion  was  on  everything ;  many  of  the  lower  win- 
dows were  walled  up ;  the  great  door  itself  was  fastened 
and  barricaded  in  such  a  way  as  to  show  it  had  been  long 
disused.  Not  a  ci'eature  was  to  be  seen  stirring  about  the 
place,  and  save  that  at  night  the  flickering  light  of  a  candle 
might  be  descried  from  a  small  casement  that  looked  upon 
the  garden,  the  house  might  have  been  deemed  uninhabited. 
Perhaps  something  in  the  mysterious  desolation  of  the  scene 
had  its  influence  over  the  boy's  mind ;  but  as  hour  by  hour 
he  lingered  in  those  silent  woods,  and  lay  in  the  deep  grass, 
watching  the  cloud  shadows  as  they  stole  along,  he  grew 
fondly  attached  to  the  place ;  now  losing  himself  in  some 
revery  of  the  long  past,  now  following  out  some  half- 
remembered  narrative  of  his  mother's  childhood,  when  she 
herself  dwelt  there. 

All  his  little  resources  of  pocket-money  expended,  —  his 
clothes,  save  such  as  he  wore,  sold,  —  he  could  scarcely  tear 
himself  from  a  scene  that  filled  every  avenue  of  his  heart. 
The  time,  however,  came,  when  a  ship,  about  to  sail  for  the 
Scheldt,  gave  him  the  opportunity  of  returning  home ;  and 
now  this  was  to  be  his  last  day  at  Corrig-O'Neal. 

And  what  a  day  of  conflicting  thought  was  it !  —  now  half 
resolved  to  approach  the  house,  and  ask  to  see  his  uncle, 
and  now  repelled  by  remembering  all  his  unkindness  to  his 
father.  Then  marvelling  whether  some  change  might  not 
have  taken  place  in  the  old  man's  mind,  and  whether  in  his 
lonely  desolation  he  might  not  wish  once  more  to  see  his 
kindred  near  him. 

He  knew  not  what  to  do,  and  evening  found  him  still 
undecided,  and  sitting  on  a  little  rising  spot,  from  which  the 
view  extended  over  the  garden  at  the  back  of  the  house, 
and  whence  he  had  often  watched  the  solitary  light  that 
marked  the  old  man's  vigils. 

Wearied  by  long  watching  and  thought,  he  fell  asleep; 
and  when  he  awoke  the  light  was  gone,  —  the  light  which 


40  THE  DALTONS. 

hitherto  had  always  burned  till  daybreak!  and  from  the 
darkness  it  must  now  be  far  from  that  hour.  While  Frank 
wondered  what  this  might  mean,  he  was  startled  by  hearing 
footsteps  near  him  —  at  least  so  they  sounded  —  on  the 
gravel-walk  of  the  garden,  and  in  a  few  minutes  after  the 
grating  sound  of  a  key,  and  the  opening  of  a  small  door 
which  led  out  into  the  wood.  He  now  perceived  that  a  man 
was  standing  at  the  foot  of  the  knoll,  who  seemed  irresolute 
and  undecided ;  for  he  twice  returned  to  the  door,  once 
introduced  the  key,  and  again  withdrew  it,  as  if  with  a 
changed  purpose.  Suddenly  he  appeared  to  have  made  up 
his  mind,  for,  stooping  down,  he  began  to  dig  with  the 
greatest  energy,  stopping  at  intervals  to  listen,  and  again 
continuing  his  work  when  satisfied  that  he  was  unobserved. 

The  hour  —  the  scene  itself  —  the  evident  secrecy  of  the 
man,  almost  paralyzed  the  boy  with  terror ;  nor  was  it 
till  long  after  the  turf  was  replaced,  dry  leaves  and  dead 
branches  were  strewn  over  the  spot,  and  the  man  himself 
gone,  that  Frank  gained  courage  to  move  away.  This  he 
did  at  first  cautiously  and  timidly,  and  then  with  a  speed  that 
soon  carried  him  far  away  from  the  spot.  The  following 
day  he  was  at  sea ;  and  if  at  first  the  strange  scene  never 
left  his  thoughts,  with  time  the  impression  faded  awa}',  till 
at  length  it  assumed  the  indistinctness  of  a  vision,  or  of 
some  picture  created  by  mere  imagination. 

AVhen  he  did  return  home,  he  never  revealed,  except  to 
Nelly,  where  he  had  been,  and  the  object  for  which  he  went ; 
but,  even  to  her,  from  some  strange  love  of  mystery,  he  told 
nothing  of  the  last  night's  experience :  this  was  a  secret, 
which  he  hoarded  like  a  miser's  treasure,  and  loved  to  think 
that  he  only  knew  of.  The  stirring  events  of  a  schoolboy's 
life,  at  first,  and  subsequently  the  changeful  scenes  of  open- 
ing manhood,  gradually  effaced  the  impression  of  what  he 
had  seen,  or  merely  left  it  to  all  the  indistinctness  of  a 
dream. 

And  thus  are  thoughts  often  sealed  up  in  the  memory  for 
years  —  unnoticed  and  unknown  —  till,  after  a  long  interval, 
they  are  all  called  forth,  and  become  the  very  pivots  on 
which  turns  our  destiny. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE   ONSLOWS. 

The  little  town  of  Baden  was  thrown  into  a  state  of  con- 
siderable excitement  by  the  unexpected  arrival  we  have 
chronicled  in  a  preceding  chapter,  and  the  host  of  the 
"  Russie  "  reduced  to  the  most  uncommon  straits  to  restore 
the  effective  of  a  staff,  now  brought  down  to  the  closest 
economy  of  retrenchment.  Cooks,  waiters,  and  housemaids 
were  sought  after  in  every  quarter,  while  emissaries  were 
despatched  right  and  left  to  replenish  the  larder  and  provide 
for  the  wants  of  the  mighty  "  Englander."  Nor  was  all  the 
bustle  and  commotion  limited  to  within  the  hotel,  but  ex- 
tended throughout  the  village  itself,  where  many  a  rustic 
pony,  laid  up  in  ordinary  for  the  winter,  was  again  trimmed 
and  curried  and  shod,  to  be  paraded  before  the  windows 
with  a  scarlet  saddle-cloth  and  a  worsted  tassel  to  the  bridle, 
in  all  the  seductive  attraction  of  a  palfrey.  Even  flower- 
girls  made  their  appearance  again  with  a  few  frost-nipped 
buds  and  leaves ;  while  a  bassoon  and  a  triangle,  voting 
themselves  a  band,  gave  horrid  signs  of  their  means  of 
persecution. 

Meanwhile  were  the  fortunate  individuals  for  whose 
benefit  these  exertions  were  evoked,  in  the  most  blissful 
ignorance  of  all  the  interest  they  were  awakening.  From 
the  first  moment  of  their  arrival  none  had  even  seen  them. 
Waited  upon  by  their  own  servants,  scarcely  heard,  not 
even  appearing  at  the  windows,  they  were  unconsciously 
ministering  to  a  mystery  that  now  engaged  every  tongue 
and  ear  around  them.  As,  however,  nothing  of  secrecy 
had  any  share  in  their  proceedings,  we  have  no  scruple  in 
invading  the  presence  and  introducing  the  reader  to  the 
company. 


42  THE  DALTONS. 

Sir  Stafford  Onslow  was  an  immensely  rich  London 
banker,  who  in  his  capacity  of  borough  member  had  voted 
steadily  with  the  Whigs  for  some  tive-and-twenty  years; 
supporting  them  by  all  the  influence  of  his  wealth  and  famil}', 
and  who  now  came  abroad,  in  a  pet  of  sulk  with  his  party, 
on  being  refused  the  peerage.  By  nature  generous,  kind- 
hearted,  and  afifectionate,  the  constant  pressure  of  a  more 
ambitious  wife  had  involved  him  in  a  career  to  which  neither 
his  tastes  nor  habits  suited  him.  The  fortune  which  he 
would  have  dispensed  with  dignity  and  munificence  he  was 
eternally  taught  to  believe  should  be  the  stepping-stone  to 
something  higher  in  rank.  All  his  influence  in  the  City,  of 
which  he  was  justly  proud,  he  was  told  was  a  mere  vulgar 
ambition  in  comparison  with  that  a  coronet  would  bestow 
on  him ;  and,  in  fact,  having  believed  himself  the  leading 
man  of  a  great  section  in  society,  he  was  led  to  look  upon 
his  position  with  discontent,  and  fancy  that  his  just  claims 
were  disregarded  and  denied.  Lady  Hester  Onslow,  who 
having  once  been  a  beauty  and  the  admired  belle  of  royalty 
itself,  had  accepted  the  banker  in  a  moment  of  pique,  and 
never  forgave  him  afterwards  the  unhappy  preference. 

Belonging  to  a  very  ancient  but  poor  family,  few  were 
surprised  at  her  accepting  a  husband  some  thirty-odd  years 
her  senior;  and  it  is  probable  that  she  would  fully  have 
recognized  the  prudence  of  her  choice  if,  by  the  death  of  a 
distant  relative  in  India,  which  occurred  a  few  months  after 
her  marriage,  she  had  not  acquired  a  very  large  fortune. 
This  sudden  accession  of  wealth  coming,  as  she  herself  said, 
"  too  late,"  embittered  every  hour  of  her  after-life. 

Had  she  been  but  wealthy  a  few  months  back,  she  had 
married  the  man  she  loved,  or  whom  she  thought  she  loved, 
—  the  heartless,  handsome,  well-mannered  Lord  Norwood,  a 
penniless  viscount,  ruined  before  he  came  of  age,  and  with 
no  other  means  of  support  than  the  faculties  which  knavery 
had  sharpened  into  talent. 

Miss  Onslow  and  her  brother,  both  the  children  of  a 
former  marriage,  were  strikingly  like  their  father,  not  alone 
in  feature,  but  in  the  traits  of  his  frank  and  generous 
character.  They  were  devotedly  attached  to  him,  not  the 
less,  perhaps,  from   the   circumstances   of   a   marriage   to 


THE  ONSLOWS.  43 

which  they  were  strongly  opposed,  and  whose  results  they 
now  saw  in  many  a  passage  of  discord  and  disagreement. 

George  and  Sydney  Onslow  were  both  dark-complexioned 
and  black-eyed,  and  had  many  traits  of  Spanish  origin  in 
appearance,  their  mother  having  been  from  that  country. 
Lady  Hester  was  a  blonde,  and  affected  to  think  that  the 
Southern  tint  was  but  an  approximation  to  the  negro.  Nor 
was  she  less  critical  on  their  manners,  whose  joyous  free- 
dom she  pronounced  essentially  vulgar.  Such,  in  a  few 
words,  were  the  discordant  elements  which  Fate  had  bound 
up  as  a  family,  and  who  now,  by  the  sudden  illness  of  Sir 
Stafford,  were  driven  to  seek  refuge  in  the  deserted  town  of 
Baden.  Nor  can  we  omit  another  who,  although  not  tied 
to  the  rest  by  kindred,  had  been  long  a  member  of  the 
circle.  This  was  Dr.  Grounsell,  an  old  college  friend  of 
Sir  Stafford's,  and  who,  having  lost  every  shilling  of  his 
fortune  by  a  speculation,  had  taken  up  his  home  at  the 
banker's  many  years  previous  to  his  second  marriage. 
Lady  Hester's  dislike  to  him  amounted  to* actual  hatred. 
She  detested  him  for  the  influence  he  possessed  over  her 
husband,  for  the  sturdiness  of  a  character  that  resisted 
every  blandishment,  for  a  quaintness  that  certainly  verged 
upon  vulgarity,  and,  most  of  all,  for  the  open  and  undis- 
guised manner  he  always  declared  against  every  scheme  for 
the  attainment  of  a  title. 

As  Sir  Stafford's  physician,  the  only  one  in  whom  he  had 
confidence,  the  doctor  was  enabled  to  stand  his  ground 
against  attacks  which  must  have  conquered  him;  and  by 
dint  of  long  resistance  and  a  certain  obstinacy  of  character, 
he  had  grown  to  take  pleasure  in  an  opposition  which,  to  a 
man  of  more  refinement  and  feeling,  must  have  proved 
intolerable;  and  although  decidedly  attached  to  Sir  Stafford 
and  his  children,  it  is  probable  that  he  was  still  more 
bound  to  them  by  hate  to  "my  Lady,"  than  by  all  his  affec- 
tion for  themselves. 

Grounsell  detested  the  Continent,  yet  he  followed  them 
abroad,  resolved  never  to  give  up  an  inch  of  ground  uncon- 
tested; and  although  assailed  by  a  thousand  slights  and 
petty  insults,  he  stood  stoutly  up  against  them  all,  defying 
every  effort  of  fine-ladyism,  French  cookery,  homoeopathy. 


44  THE  DALTONS. 

puppyism,  and  the  water-cure,  to  dislodge  him  from  his 
position.  There  was  very  possibly  more  of  dogged  malice 
in  all  this  than  amiability  or  attachment  to  his  friends ;  but 
it  is  due  to  the  doctor  to  say  that  he  was  no  hypocrite, 
and  would  never  have  blinked  the  acknowledgment  if  fairly 
confronted  with  the  charge. 

Although,  if  it  had  not  been  for  my  Lady's  resentful  notice 
of  the  ministerial  neglect,  the  whole  family  would  have  been 
snugly  domesticated  in  their  beautiful  villa  beside  the 
Thames  at  Richmond,  she  artfully  contrived  to  throw  the 
whole  weight  of  every  annoyance  they  experienced  upon 
every  one's  shoulders  rather  than  her  own;  and  as  she 
certainly  called  to  her  aid  no  remarkable  philosophy  against 
the  inconveniences  of  travel,  the  budget  of  her  grievances 
assumed  a  most  imposing  bulk. 

Dressed  in  the  very  perfection  of  a  morning  costume,  her 
cap,  her  gloves,  her  embroidered  slippers,  all  in  the  most 
accurate  keeping  with  that  assumed  air  of  seclusion  by 
which  fine  ladies  compliment  the  visitor  fortunate  enough 
to  be  admitted  to  their  presence,  Lady  Hester  sat  at  a  win- 
dow, occasionally  looking  from  the  deep  lace  that  bordered 
her  handkerchief  to  the  picturesque  scene  of  mountain  and 
river  that  lay  before  her.  A  fastidious  taste  might  have 
found  something  to  be  pleased  with  in  either,  but  assuredly 
her  handsome  features  evinced  no  agreeable  emotion,  and 
her  expression  was  that  of  utter  ennui  and  listlessness. 

At  another  window  sat  Sydney  Onslow  drawing;  her 
brother  standing  behind  her  chair,  and  from  time  to  time 
adding  his  counsels,  but  in  a  tone  studiously  low  and  whis- 
pered. "Get  that  shadow  in  something  deeper,  Syd,  and 
you  '11  have  more  effect  in  the  distance." 

"What  is  that  I  hear  about  effect  and  distance?"  sighed 
out  my  Lady.     "You  surely  are  not  drawing?" 

"Only  sketching;  making  a  hurried  note  of  that  wheel, 
and  the  quaint  old-fashioned  house  beside  it,"  said  Sydney, 
diffidently. 

"What  a  refinement  of  cruelty!  The  detestable  noise  of 
that  mill  kept  me  awake  all  night,  and  you  mean  to  perpet- 
uate the  remembrance  by  a  picture.  Pray,  be  a  good  child 
and  throw  it  out  of  the  window." 


THE  ONSLOWS.  45 

Sydney  looked  up  in  her  brother's  face,  where  already  a 
crimson  flush  of  anger  was  gathering,  but  before  she  could 
reply  he  spoke  for  her.  "The  drawing  is  for  me,  Lady 
Onslow.  You  '11.  excuse  me  if  I  do  not  consent  to  the  fate 
you  propose  for  it." 

"Let  me  look  at  it,"  said  she,  languidly;  and  the  young 
girl  arose  and  presented  the  drawing  to  her.  "How  droll!  " 
said  she,  laughing;  "1  suppose  it  is  peculiar  to  Germany 
that  water  can  run  up  hill." 

"The  shadow  will  correct  that,"  said  Sydney,  smiling; 
"and  when  the  foreground  is  darker  —  "  A  violent  slam  of 
the  door  cut  short  the  explanation.  It  was  George  Onslow, 
who,  too  indignant  at  the  practised  impertinence  toward 
his  sister,  dashed  out  of  the  room  in  a  passion. 

"How  underbred  your  brother  will  persist  in  being,  my 
love,"  said  she,  calmly;  "that  vile  trick  of  slamming  a 
door,  they  learn,  I  'm  told,  in  the  Guards'  Club.  I  'm  sure 
I  always  thought  it  was  confined  to  the  melodrames  one 
sees  at  the  Porte  St.  Martin." 

At  this  moment  a  servant  appeared  at  the  door.  "Colonel 
Haggerstone's  compliments,  my  Lady,  and  begs  to  know 
how  Sir  Stafford  is  to-day." 

"Something  better,"  replied  she,  curtly;  and  as  the 
man  disappeared,  she  added,  "Whose  compliments  did  he 
say?" 

"I did  not  hear  the  name;  it  sounded  like  Haggerstone." 

"Impossible,  child;  we  know  of  no  such  person.  What 
hour  is  it?" 

"A  few  minutes  past  two." 

"Oh  dear!  I  fancied  it  had  been  four  —  or  five  —  or  six," 
sighed  she,  drearily.  "The  amiable  doctor  has  not  made 
his  report  to-day  of  your  papa,  and  he  went  to  see  him 
immediately  after  breakfast." 

"He  told  George  that  there  was  no  amendment,"  said 
Sydney,  gravely. 

"He  told  George!     Then  he  did  not  deign  to  tell  me." 

"You  were  not  here  at  the  moment.  It  was  as  he  passed 
through  the  room  hurriedly." 

"I  conclude  that  I  was  in  my  dressing-room.  But  it  is 
only  in  keeping  with  Mr.  Grounsell's  studied  disrespect,  — 


46  THE  DALTONS. 

a  line  of  conduct  I  grieve  to  see  him  supported  in  by  mem- 
bers of  this  family." 

"Mr.  Alfred  Jekyl,  my  Lady,"  said  a  servant,  "with 
inquiry  for  Sir  Stafford." 

"  You  appear  to  know  best,  my  dear,  how  your  papa  is. 
Pray  answer  thai  inquiry." 

"Sir  Stafford  is  not  better,"  said  Sydney  to  the  sen^ant. 

"Who  can  all  these  people  be,  my  dear?"  said  Lady 
Hester,  with  more  animation  of  manner  than  she  had  yet 
exhibited.  "Jekyl  is  a  name  one  knows.  There  are 
Northamptonshire  Jekyls,  and,  if  I  mistake  not,  it  was  a 
Jekyl  married  Lady  Olivia  Drossmore,  was  it  not?  Oh, 
what  a  fool  I  am  to  ask  you^  who  never  know  anything  of 
family  or  connection!  And  yet  I  'm  certain  I  've  told  you 
over  and  over  the  importance  —  the  actual  necessity  —  of 
this  knowledge.  If  you  only  bestowed  upon  Burke  a  tithe 
of  the  patience  and  time  I  have  seen  you  devote  to  Lyell, 
you  'd  not  commit  the  shocking  mistake  you  fell  into  t'  other 
day  of  discussing  the  Duchess  of  Dartley's  character  with 
Lord  Brandford,  from  whom  she  was  divorced.  Now  you  'd 
never  offend  quartz  and  sandstone  by  miscalling  their 
affinities.     But  here  comes  the  doctor." 

If  Dr.  Grounsell  had  been  intended  by  nature  to  outrage 
all  ultra-refined  notions  regarding  personal  appearance, 
he  could  not  possibly  have  been  more  cunningly  fash- 
ioned. Somewhat  below  the  middle  size,  and  squarely 
formed,  his  legs  did  not  occupy  more  than  a  third  of  his 
height;  his  head  was  preternaturally  large,  and  seemed 
even  larger  from  a  crop  of  curly  yellowish  hair,  whose 
flaring  ochre  only  rescued  it  from  the  imputation  of  being 
a  wig.  His  hands  and  feet  were  enormous,  requiring  a 
muscular  effort  to  move  them  that  made  all  his  gestures 
grotesque  and  uncouth.  In  addition  to  these  native  graces, 
his  clothes  were  alwa\'s  made  much  too  large  for  him,  from 
his  avowed  dislike  to  the  over- tightening  and  squeezing  of 
modern  fashion. 

As  his  whole  life  had  been  passed  in  the  superintendence 
of  a  great  military  hospital  in  the  East,  wherein  all  his 
conversations  with  his  brethren  were  maintained  in  techni- 
calities, he   had   never  converted   the   professional   jargon 


THE  ONSLOWS.  47 

into  a  popular  currency,  but  used  the  terms  of  art  upon 
all  occasions,  regardless  of  the  inability  of  the  unmedical 
world  to  understand  him. 

"Well,  sir,  what  is  your  report  to-day?"  said  Lady 
Onslow,  assuming  her  very  stateliest  of  manners. 

"Better,  and  worse,  madam.  The  arthritis  relieved, 
the  cardiac  symptoms  more  imminent.' 

'Please  to  bear  in  mind,  sir,  that  I  have  not  studied  at 
Apothecaries'  Hall." 

"Nor  I,  madam;  but  at  Edinburgh  and  Aberdeen,  in 
the  faculties  of  medicine  and  surgery,"  said  Grounsell, 
drawing  down  his  waistcoat,  and  arranging  himself  in  what 
he  considered  an  order  of  battle. 

"Is  papa  better,  doctor?"  said  Sydney,  mildly. 

"The  articular  affection  is  certainly  alleviated,  but  there 
is  mischief  here,"  said  Grounsell,  placing  his  hand  over  his 
heart;  "fibrous  tissues,  my  dear  Miss  Onslow, — fibrous 
tissues  are  ticklish  affairs." 

"Is  this  advice  to  be  construed  in  a  moral  rather  than 
a  medical  sense?"  said  Lady  Onslow,  with  a  malicious 
smile. 

"Either  or  both,"  replied  the  doctor.  "The  heart  will 
always  be  highly  susceptible  of  nervous  influence." 

"But  papa  —  "  broke  in  Sydney,  eagerly. 

"Is  suffering  under  metastasis  —  migratory  gout,  it  may 
be  termed  —  changing  from  articular  to  large  organic 
structures." 

"And,  of  course,  you  are  giving  him  the  old  poisons  that 
were  in  use  fifty  years  ago?  " 

"What  do  you  mean,  madam?"  said  Grounsell,  sternly. 

"That  shocking  thing  that  drives  people  mad  —  colo- 
cynth,  or  colchicum,  or  something  like  that.  You  know 
what  I  mean?  " 

"Happily  for  me,  madam,  I  can  guess  it." 

"And  are  you  still  as  obstinate  as  ever  about  the 
globules  ?  " 

"The  homoeopathic  humbug?" 

"If  you  are  polite  enough  so  to  designate  what  I  put  the 
most  implicit  trust  in.  But  I  warn  you,  sir,  I  mean  to 
exert  my  just  and  rightful  influence  with  Sir  Stafford ;  and 


48  THE  DALTONS. 

in  case  a  very  great  change  does  not  appear  to-morrow,  I 
shall  insist  upon  his  trying  the  aconite." 

"If  you  do,  madam,  the  insurance  offices  shall  hear  of  it!  " 
said  Grounsell,  with  a  sternness  that  made  the  threat  most 
significant. 

"  I  '11  send  for  that  man  from  Heidelberg  at  once,  Syd- 
ney," said  Lady  Hester,  as,  pale  with  passion,  she  seated 
herself  at  her  writing-table. 

"Take  care  what  you  do,  madam,"  said  Grounsell, 
approaching  where  she  sat,  and  speaking  in  a  low  and 
solemn  voice.  "Let  not  any  feeling  of  displeasure  with 
me  induce  you  to  an  act  of  rashness  or  imprudence.  My 
old  friend's  state  is  critical;  it  may  at  any  moment  become 
dangerous.  I  am  convinced  that  what  I  am  doing  offers 
the  most  reasonable  hope  of  serving  him.  Take  care  lest 
you  weaken  his  confidence  in  me,  when  he  may  not  be  pre- 
pared to  repose  it  in  another." 

"Here,  Sydney,  you  write  German;  and  it  is  possible  he 
may  not  read  French.  This  is  his  name' —  I  got  it  in 
Paris  —  Graeffnell.  Tell  him  to  come  at  once  —  in  fact,  let 
Francois  take  a  carriage  for  him." 

Sydney  Onslow  looked  at  her  mother  and  then  at  the 
doctor.  At  the  latter  her  glance  was  almost  imploring,  but 
he  never  noticed  it,  turning  abruptly  toward  the  window 
without  uttering  a  word. 

"Can  you  consult  with  him,  doctor?"  asked  Sydney, 
timidly. 

''Of  course  not;  he  's  a  mountebank." 

"Write,  as  I  bade  you.  Miss  Onslow,"  said  Lady  Hester. 
"Dr.  Graeffnell  is  one  of  the  first  men  in  Germany.  Lady 
Heskisson  sent  for  him  when  the  Earl  fell  ill  at  Wiesbaden." 

"And  the  Countess  was  a  widow  in  four  days  after. 
Don't  forget  the  denouement  of  the  story,  madam." 

Sydney  dropped  the  pen,  and  her  hands  fell  powerless  to 
her  side.  There  was  something  in  the  sternness  of  the 
doctor  that  seemed  to  awe  even  Lady  Onslow,  for  she  made 
no  reply;  while  Grounsell,  seeing  his  advantage,  left  the 
room  at  once,  without  further  parley. 

Our  readers  will  probably  forgive  us  if  we  follow  his 
example,  and  not  remain  to  listen  to  the  eloquent  monologue 


THE  ONSLOWS.  49 

in  which  Lady  Onslow  lamented  her  sad  condition  in  life. 
Not  only  did  she  bewail  her  destiny,  but,  like  one  of  those 
classic  personages  the  Greek  Chorus  presents  us  to,  she 
proceeded  to  speculate  upon  every  possible  mischance 
futurity  might  have  in  store  for  her,  ingeniously  inventing 
"situations,"  and  devising  "predicaments"  that  nothing 
less  gifted  than  a  self-tormenting  imagination  can  conceive. 
Leaving  her  to  all  the  pleasure  such  a  pastime  can  give, 
we  shall  quit  the  house,  and,  although  a  cold,  raw  evening 
is  closing  in,  wander  out  into  the  street. 


CHAPTER   V. 


THE    PATIENT. 


Along  the  dark  and  narrow  street,  over  which  the  coming 
night  cast  a  dreary  shadow,  a  single  lamp  was  seen  to 
shine  at  the  door  of  Ludwig  Kraus,  the  apothecary;  a 
beacon,  it  is  but  fair  to  add,  lighted  less  with  the  hope  of 
attracting  custom  than  in  obedience  to  the  requirements  of 
the  law,  for  Herr  Kraus  was  a  "state"  official,  and  bound 
to  conform  to  the  dictates  of  the  government.  His  shop 
was  a  small  triangular  space,  in  which  there  was  barely 
room  for  the  learned  dispenser  and  a  single  client  at  the 
same  moment,  thus  giving  to  all  his  interviews  the  secrecy 
of  the  confessional  itself.  Jars,  phials,  flasks,  and  drawers 
rose  on  every  side,  not  inscribed  with  the  vulgar  nomencla- 
ture of  modern  physic,  but  bearing  the  enigmatical  marks 
and  hieroglyphics  known  to  Galen  and  Paracelsus.  Arabic 
letters,  dragons,  strange  monsters,  and  zodiacal  signs  met 
the  eye  everywhere,  and  did  not  consort  ill  with  the  spare 
form  and  high  bald  head  of  the  proprietor,  whose  quaint- 
figured  dressing-gown  and  black  velvet  cap  gave  him  a  kind 
of  resemblance  to  an  alchemist  in  his  workshop.  As 
Grounsell  approached  the  glass  door  and  peeped  in,  the 
scene  that  presented  itself  rather  assisted  this  illusion,  for 
straight  in  front  of  the  little  counter  over  which  Kraus  was 
leaning,  sat  the  dwarf,  Hans  Roeckle,  talking  away  with 
considerable  animation,  and  from  time  to  time  seeming  to 
expatiate  upon  the  merits  of  a  wooden  figure  which  he  held 
carefully  in  his  hands.  The  small,  half-lighted  chamber, 
the  passive,  motionless  features  of  the  chemist,  the  strange 
wild  gestures  of  little  Hans,  as,  in  his  tongue  of  mysterious 
gutturals  he  poured  out  a  flood  of  words,  amazed  Grounsell, 
and  excited  his  curiosity  to  the  utmost.     He  continued  to 


THE  PATIENT.  61 

gaze  in  for  a  considerable  time,  without  being  able  to  guess 
what  it  might  mean,  and  at  last  abandoning  all  conjecture 
he  resolved  to  enter.  Scarcely  had  he  touched  the  handle 
of  the  door,  however,  than  the  dwarf,  seizing  the  figure, 
concealed  it  beneath  the  skirt  of  his  fur  mantle,  and  retired 
to  a  corner  of  the  shop.  Dr.  Grounsell's  errand  was  to 
obtain  certain  medicines  for  his  patient,  which,  from  his 
ignorance  of  German,  he  had  taken  the  precaution  to  write 
down  in  Latin.  He  passed  the  paper  in  silence  over  the 
counter,  and  waited  patiently  as  the  chemist  spelt  out  the 
words.  Having  read  it  through,  he  handed  back  the  paper 
with  a  few  dry  words,  which,  being  in  his  native  tongue, 
were  totally  incomprehensible. 

"You  must  have  these  things,  surely,"  exclaimed  Groun- 
sell;  "they  are  the  commonest  of  all  medicines;"  and  then 
remembering  himself,  he  made  signs  in  the  direction  of  the 
drawers  and  phials  to  express  his  meaning.  Again  the 
chemist  uttered  some  dozen  words. 

The  doctor  produced  his  purse,  where  certain  gold  pieces 
glittered,  as  though  to  imply  that  he  was  willing  to  pay 
handsomely  for  his  ignorance;  but  the  other  pushed  it 
away,  and  shook  his  head  in  resolute  refusal. 

"This  is  too  bad,"  muttered  Grounsell,  angrily.  "I  *11 
be  sworn  he  has  the  things,  and  will  not  give  them."  The 
chemist  motioned  Hans  to  approach,  and  whispered  a  few 
words  in  his  hearing,  on  which  the  dwarf,  removing  his 
cap  in  courteous  salutation,  addressed  Grounsell;  "High- 
born and  much-learned  Saar.  De  laws  make  no  oder  that 
doctoren  have  recht  to  write  physics." 

"What!"  cried  Grounsell,  not  understanding  the  mean- 
ing of  this  speech.  Hans  repeated  it  more  slowly,  and  at 
length  succeeded  in  conveying  the  fact  that  physicians  alone 
were  qualified  to  procure  medicines. 

"But  I  am  a  doctor,  my  worthy  friend,  a  physician  of 
long  standing." 

"Das  ist  possible  —  who  knows?  " 

"I  know,  and  I  say  it,"  rejoined  the  other,  tersely. 

"Ja!  ja!"  responded  Hans,  as  though  to  say  the  theme 
were  not  worth  being  warm  about,  one  way  or  t'  other. 

"Come,  my  dear  sir,"  said  Grounsell,  coaxingly;  "pray 


52  THE   DALTONS. 

be  good  enough  to  explain  that  I  want  these  medicines  for 
a  sick  friend,  who  is  now  at  the  hotel  here,  dangerously 
ill  of  gout." 

"Podagra  —  gout!"  exclaimed  Hans,  with  sudden  anima- 
tion, "and  dese  are  de  cure  for  gout?  " 

"They  will,  I  hope,  be  of  service  against  it." 

"You  shall  have  dem  —  Saar  —  on  one  condition.  That 
ist,  you  will  visit  anoder  sick  man  mit  gout  —  an  Engless- 
man,  too  —  verh  ill  —  verh  sick ;  —  and  no  rich  —  you 
understan'." 

"Yes,  yes;  I  understand  perfectly;  I'll  see  him  with 
pleasure.  Tell  this  worthy  man  to  make  up  these  for  me, 
and  I  Ml  go  along  with  you  now." 

"Gut!  verh  good,"  said  Hans,  as  in  a  few  words  of 
German  he  expressed  to  the  apothecary  that  he  might  ven- 
ture to  transgress  the  law  in  the  present  case  when  the 
season  was  over,  and  no  one  to  be  the  wiser. 

As  Hans  issued  forth  to  show  the  way,  he  never  ceased 
to  insist  upon  the  fact  that  the  present  was  not  a  case  for  a 
fee,  and  that  the  doctor  should  well  understand  the  condi- 
tion upon  which  his  visit  was  to  be  paid;  and  still  inveigh- 
ing on  this  theme,  he  arrived  at  the  house  where  the  Daltons 
dwelt.  "Remember,  too,"  said  Hans,  "that,  though  they 
are  poor,  they  are  of  guten  stamm  —  how  say  you,  noble?" 
Grounsell  listened  with  due  attention  to  all  Hanserl'*  cau- 
tions, following,  not  without  difficulty,  his  strange  and 
guttural  utterances. 

"I  will  go  before.  Stay  here,"  said  Hans,  as  they 
gained  the  landing-place;  and  so  saying,  he  pushed  open 
the  door  and  disappeared. 

As  Grounsell  stood  alone  and  in  the  dark,  he  wondered 
within  himself  what  strange  chances  should  have  brought  a 
fellow-countryman  into  this  companionship,  for  there  was 
something  so  grotesque  in  Hans's  appearance  and  manner, 
that  it  routed  all  notion  of  his  being  admitted  to  any 
footing  of  friendly  equality. 

The  door  at  length  opened,  and  the  doctor  followed  Hans 
into  a  dimly  lighted  room,  where  Dalton  lay,  half  dressed, 
upon  his  bed.  Before  Grounsell  had  well  passed  the  en- 
trance, the  sick  man  said,  "I  am  afraid,  sir,  that  my  little 


THE   PATIENT.  63 

frieud  here  has  taken  a  bit  of  liberty  with  both  of  us,  since 
I  believe  you  wanted  a  patient  just  as  little  as  I  did  a 
doctor." 

The  anxious,  lustrous  eye,  the  flushed  cheek,  and  tremu- 
lous lip  of  the  speaker  gave,  at  the  same  time,  a  striking 
contradiction  to  his  words,  Grounsell's  practised  glance 
read  these  signs  rapidly,  and  drawing  near  the  bed,  he 
seated  himself  beside  it,  saying,  "It  is  quite  clear,  sir,  that 
you  are  not  well,  and  although,  if  we  were  both  of  us  in  our 
own  country,  this  visit  of  mine  would,  as  you  observe,  be  a 
considerable  liberty,  seeing  that  we  are  in  a  foreign  land, 
I  hope  you  will  not  deem  my  intrusion  of  this  nature,  but 
suffer  me,  if  I  can,  to  be  of  some  service  to  you." 

Less  the  words  themselves  than  a  certain  purpose-like 
kindliness  in  the  speaker's  manner,  induced  Dalton  to  ac- 
cept the  offer,  and  reply  to  the  questions  which  the  other 
proposed  to  him.  "No,  no,  doctor,"  said  he,  after  a  few 
moments;  "there  is  no  great  mischief  brewing  after  all. 
The  truth  is,  I  was  fretted  —  harassed  a  little.  It  was 
about  a  boy  of  mine  —  I  have  only  one  —  and  he  's  gone 
away  to  be  a  soldier  with  the  Austrians.  You  know,  of 
course  —  as  who  does  n't?  —  how  hard  it  is  to  do  anything 
for  a  young  man  now-a-days.  If  family  or  high  connec- 
tion could  do  it,  we  'd  be  as  well  off  as  our  neighbors.  AVe 
belong  to  the  Daltons  of  Garrigmore,  that  you  know  are 
full  blood  with  the  O'Neals  of  Cappagh.  But  what  's  the 
use  of  blood  now?  —  devil  a  good  it  does  a  man.  It  would 
be  better  to  have  your  father  a  cotton-spinner,  or  an  iron- 
master, than  the  descendant  of  Shane  Mohr  na  Manna." 

"I  believe  you  are  right,"  observed  the  doctor,  dryly. 

"I  know  I  am;  I  feel  it  myself,  and  I'm  almost  ashamed 
to  tell  it.  Here  am  I,  Peter  Dalton,  the  last  of  them  now; 
and  may  I  never  leave  this  bed,  if  I  could  make  a  barony 
constable  in  the  county  where  the  king's  writ  could  n't  run 
once  without  our  leave." 

"But  Ireland  herself  has  changed  more  than  your  own 
fortunes,"  remarked  Grounsell. 

"That's  true,  —  that 's  true,"  sighed  the  sick  man.  "I 
don't  remember  the  best  days  of  it,  but  I  've  heard  of  them 
often  and  often  from  my  father.     The  fine  old  times,  when 


54  THE  DALTONS. 

Mount  Dalton  was  filled  with  company  from  the  ground  to 
the  slates,  and  two  lords  in  the  granary;  a  pipe  of  port 
wine  in  the  hall,  with  a  silver  cup  beside  it;  the  Modereen 
hounds,  huntsmen  and  all,  living  at  rack  and  manger,  as 
many  as  fifty  sitting  down  in  the  parlor,  and  I  won't  say 
how  many  in  the  servants'  hall;  the  finest  hunters  in  the 
west  country  in  the  stables,  — there  was  life  for  you!  Show 
me  the  equal  of  that  in  the  wide  world." 

"And  what  is  the  present  condition  of  the  scene  of  those 
festivities?  "  said  Grounsell,  with  a  calm  but  searching  look. 

"The  present  condition?"  echoed  Dalton,  starting  up  to 
a  sitting  posture,  and  grasping  the  curtain  with  a  convul- 
sive grip;  "I  can't  tell  you  what  it  is  to-day,  this  ninth  of 
November,  but  I  '11  tell  what  it  was  when  I  left  it,  eighteen 
years  ago.  The  house  was  a  ruin;  the  lawn  a  common;  the 
timber  cut  down;  the  garden  a  waste;  the  tenants  beg- 
gared ;  the  landlord  an  exile.  That 's  a  pleasant  catalogue, 
isn't  it?" 

"But  there  must  come  a  remedy  for  all  this,"  remarked 
Grounsell,  whose  ideas  were  following  out  a  very  diffei'ent 
channel. 

"Do  you  mean  by  a  poor-law?  Is  it  by  taxing  the  half 
ruined  to  feed  the  lazy?  or  by  rooting  out  all  that  once 
was  a  gentry,  to  fill  their  places  by  greedy  speculators  from 
Manchester  and  Leeds?  Is  that  your  remedy?  It 's  wish- 
ing it  well  I  am!  No;  if  you  want  to  do  good  to  the  coun- 
try, leave  Ireland  to  be  Ireland,  and  don't  try  to  make 
Norfolk  of  her.  Let  her  have  her  own  Parliament,  that 
knows  the  people  and  their  wants.  Teach  her  to  have  a 
pride  in  her  own  nationality,  and  not  to  be  always  looking 
at  herself  in  shame  beside  her  rich  sister.  Give  her  a 
word  of  kindness  now  and  then,  as  you  do  the  Scotch;  but, 
above  all,  leave  us  to  ourselves.  We  understand  one 
another;  you  never  did,  nor  never  will.  We  quarrelled, 
and  made  friends  again,  and  all  went  right  with  us;  you 
came  over  with  your  Chancery  Courts,  and  your  police, 
and  whenever  we  differed,  you  never  stopped  till  we  were 
beggared  or  hanged." 

"You  take  a  very  original  view  of  our  efforts  at  civiliza- 
tion, I  confess,"  said  Grounsell,  smiling. 


THE  PATIENT.  55 

"Civilization!  Civilization!  I  hate  the  very  sound  of 
the  word ;  it  brings  to  my  mind  nothing  but  county  jails, 
bridewells,  turnpikes,  and  ministers'  money.  If  it  was  n't 
for  civilization,  would  there  be  a  receiver  over  my  estate  of 
Mount  Dalton?  Would  the  poor  tenants  be  racked  for  the 
rent  that  I  always  gave  time  for?  Would  there  be  a  big 
poor-house,  with  its  ugly  front  staring  to  the  highway,  as 
they  tell  me  there  is,  and  a  police  barrack  to  keep  it  com- 
pany, opposite?  I  tell  you  again,  sir,  that  your  meddling 
has  done  nothing  but  mischief.  Our  little  quarrels  you 
converted  into  serious  animosities;  our  estrangements  into 
the  feuds  of  two  opposing  races;  our  very  poverty,  that 
we  had  grown  accustomed  to,  you  taught  us  to  regard  as  a 
'national  disgrace,  without  ever  instructing  us  how  to  relieve 
it;  and  there  we  are  now  on  your  hands,  — neither  English 
in  industry,  nor  Irish  in  submission,  —  neither  willing  to 
work,  nor  content  to  be  hungry!  " 

The  doctor  saw  by  the  agitated  look  and  tone  of  the  sick 
man  that  the  subject  was  one  of  too  much  excitement  for 
him,  and  hastened  to  change  the  topic  by  jocularly  express- 
ing a  hope  that  he  might  prove  more  successful  with  him 
than  England  had  been  with  his  countrymen. 

"I  doubt  it,  sir,"  said  Dalton,  gravely;  "not  thanking 
you  the  less  for  your  kindness.  I  believe,  like  my  poor 
country,  that  I  'm  past  doctoring."  He  paused  for  a  few 
seconds,  and  then  added:  "It's  all  fretting.  It's  thinking 
about  the  girls.  Frank  —  there  is  no  fear  of.  That 's  what 
ails  me." 

Grounsell  saw  that  to  prolong  his  visit  would  be  but  to 
encourage  a  tone  of  depression  that  must  prove  injurious; 
so  promising  to  return  to  see  him  in  the  morning,  he  shook 
Dalton's  hand  cordially,  and  followed  Hans  into  the  adjoin- 
ing room,  where  writing  materials  were  prepared  for  him. 

The  two  girls  were  standing  at  the  fire  as  he  entered;  and 
simple  as  was  their  dress,  homely  even  to  poverty,  every 
trait  of  their  costume,  their  looks,  bespoke  them  of  gentle 
blood.  Their  anxious  glances  as  he  came  forward  showed 
their  eagerness  to  hear  his  tidings ;  but  they  did  not  speak 
a  word. 

"Do  not  be  uneasy,  young  ladies,"  said  he,  hastening  to 


56  THE  DALTONS. 

relieve  their  fears.  "Your  father's  illness  has  nothing 
serious  about  it.  A  few  days  will,  I  trust,  see  him  per- 
fectly restored  to  health.  Meanwhile  you  are  his  best 
physicians,  who  can  minister  to  his  spirits  and  cheer 
him  up." 

"Since  my  brother  left  us,  sir,  he  appeared  to  sink  hour 
by  hour;  he  cannot  get  over  the  shock,"  said  Ellen. 

"I  never  knew  him  to  give  way  before,"  interposed 
Kate.  "He  used  to  say,  when  anything  grieved  him,  'he  'd 
pay  some  one  to  fret  for  him. '  " 

"With  better  health  you'll  see  his  old  courage  return," 
said  the  doctor,  as  he  hastily  wrote  a  few  lines  of  prescrip- 
tion, and  then  laying  his  head  in  his  hand,  seemed  for  some 
minutes  lost  in  thought.  There  were  little  comforts,  mat-' 
ters  of  trifling  luxury  he  wished  to  order,  and  yet  he  hesi- 
tated, for  he  did  not  know  how  far  they  were  compatible 
with  their  means ;  nor  could  he  venture  upon  the  hazard  of 
offending  by  questioning  them.  As  in  his  uncertainty  hb 
raised  his  eyes,  they  fell  upon  the  wooden  figure  which  the 
dwarf  had  exhibited  in  the  apothecary's  shop,  and  which 
now  stood  upon  a  table  near.  It  was  a  child  sleeping  at 
the  foot  of  a  cross,  around  which  its  arms  were  entwined. 
The  emaciated  limbs  and  wasted  cheek  portrayed  fasting 
and  exhaustion,  while  in  the  attitude  itself,  sleep  seemed 
verging  upon  death. 

"What  is  that?  "  asked  he,  hastily,  as  he  pointed  with 
his  pen  to  the  object. 

"A  poor  child  was  found  thus,  frozen  to  death  upon  the 
Arlberg,"  said  Kate;  "and  my  sister  carved  that  figure 
from  a  description  of  the  event." 

"Your  sister!  This  was  don^  by  yo?<,"  said  Grounsell, 
slowly,  as  he  turned  his  gaze  from  the  work  to  the  artist. 

"Yes,"  cried  Hans,  whose  face  beamed  with  delight;  "is 
it  not '  lieblich?  '  is  it  not  vonderful?  Dass,  I  say,  alway ; 
none  have  taste  now  —  none  have  de  love  to  admire!  " 

Stooping  down  to  examine  it  better,  Grounsell  was  struck 
by  the  expression  of  the  face,  whereon  a  smile  of  trustfulness 
and  hope  seemed  warring  with  the  rigid  lines  of  coming 
death;  so  that  the  impression  conveyed  was  more  of  a 
victory  over  suffering  than  of  a  terrible  fate. 


THE   PATIENT. 


67 


"She  is  self-taught,  sir;  none  even  so  much  as  assisted 
ber  by  advice,"  said  Kate,  proudly. 

"  That  will  be  perhaps  but  too  apparent  from  my  efforts," 
said  Ellen,  smiling  faintly. 

"I'm  no  artist,  young  lady,"  said    Grounsell,   bluntly, 


"  but  I  am  well  versed  in  every  variety  of  the  human  ex- 
pression in  suffering,  and  of  mere  truth  to  nature  I  can 
speak  confidently.  This  is  a  fine  work !  —  nay,  do  not 
blush,  I  am  not  a  flatterer.  May  I  take  it  with  me,  and 
show  it  to  others  more  conversant  with  art  than  I  am  ? " 

"  Upon  one  condition  you  may,"  said  the  girl,  in  a  low, 
deep  voice. 

"  Be  it  so ;  on  any  condition  you  wish." 

"  We  are  agreed,  then?  " 


58  THE  DALTONS. 

"Perfectly." 

"  The  figure  is  yours  —     Nay,  sir  —  your  promise ! " 

Grounsell  stammered,  and  blushed,  and  looked  confused ; 
indeed,  no  man  was  less  able  to  extricate  himself  from  any 
position  of  embarrassment ;  and  here  the  difficulties  pressed 
on  every  side,  for  while  he  scrupled  to  accept  what  he 
deemed  a  gift  of  real  value,  he  felt  that  they  too  had  a 
right  to  free  themselves  from  the  obligation  that  his  pres- 
ence as  a  doctor  imposed.  At  last  he  saw  nothing  better 
than  to  yield ;  and  in  all  the  confusion  of  a  bashfully  awk- 
ward man,  he  mumbled  out  his  acknowledgments  and  catch- 
ing up  the  figure,  departed. 

Hans  alone  seemed  dissatisfied  at  the  result,  for  as  he 
cast  his  wistful  looks  after  the  wooden  image,  his  eyes 
swam  with  his  tears,  and  he  muttered  as  he  went  some 
words  of  deep  desponding  cadence. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


A    FIRST    VISIT. 


The  dreary  weather  of  November  showed  no  signs  of  "  tak- 
ing up."  Lowering  days  of  fog  and  gloom  alternated  with 
cold  winds  and  sleet,  so  that  all  out-door  occupation  was 
utterly  denied  to  that  imprisoned  party,  who  were  left  with 
so  few  resources  to  pass  the  time  within.  It  is  true  they 
did  not  make  the  best  of  the  bad.  Lady  Hester  grew  hourly 
more  irritable  and  peevish.  Sydney  Onslow  seldom  left  her 
room.  George  took  to  the  hills  every  morning,  and  never 
returned  before  a  late  dinner;  while  the  doctor,  when  not 
with  Sir  Stafford,  spent  all  his  time  at  the  Daltons',  with 
whom  he  had  already  established  a  close  intimacy. 

Lady  Hester  had  exhausted  every  possible  means  she 
could  imagine  to  while  away  the  hours;  she  had  spent 
whole  days  in  letter-writing  —  folios  of  "tirades"  —  to 
every  one  she  could  think  of.  She  had  all  the  carriages 
inspected,  and  the  imperials  searched,  for  books  she  well 
knew  had  been  left  behind.  She  had  sent  for  the  land- 
lord's daughter  to  give  her  lessons  in  German,  which  she 
thought  of  learning  during  the  week.  She  had  given  a 
morning  to  the  Italian  boy  with  his  white  mice,  and  pored 
for  hours  long  over  the  "  Livre  des  Voyageurs,"  reading 
the  names  of  friends  who,  with  better  fortune,  had  taken 
their  departure  for  Italy.  But  at  last  there  came  an  end 
even  to  these  frail  resources,  and  she  was  left  utterly  with- 
out an  occupation  to  engage,  or  even  a  thought  to  employ 
her.  The  five  minutes  of  morning  altercation  with  Grounsell 
over,  the  dreary  time  was  unbroken  by  a  single  event,  or  un- 
checkered  by  a  single  hope.  Sir  Stafford  was  indeed  recover- 
ing, but  so  slowly  that  weeks  might  be  required  ere  he  could 


60  THE   DALTONS. 

proceed  on  his  journey.  How  were  they  to  be  passed  ?  was  the 
fearful  question  to  which  she  could  find  no  answer.  She 
looked  with  actual  envy  at  the  party  of  boors  who  played  at 
dominos  in  the  beer-house  opposite,  and  followed  with  long- 
ing eyes  the  little  mail-cart  as  it  left  the  village.  If  she  could 
read  German,  there  were  scores  of  books  at  her  service.  If 
she  could  but  take  a  charitable  turn,  there  was  poverty  enough 
to  give  her  occupation  from  morn  till  night.  She  never  knew 
what  it  was  to  think  seriously,  for  meditation  is  the  manufac- 
ture that  cannot  work  without  its  raw  material,  and  with  this 
her  mind  was  not  stored. 

It  was  in  this  pitiable  frame  of  mind  she  was  walking 
up  and  down  the  drawing-room  one  morning,  just  as  the 
doctor  had  taken  his  departure,  and  with  him  the  last  little 
scene  that  was  to  relieve  the  day,  when  the  servant  entered 
with  the  card  of  Colonel  Haggerstone,  and  the  daily  repeated 
inquiry  for  Sir  Stafford's  health. 

Had  the  gallant  colonel  presented  himself  at  Wilton 
Crescent,  or  the  Villa,  it  is  more  than  likely  that  the  well- 
instructed  porter  had  not  vised  his  passport,  but  at  once 
consigned  a  name  of  such  unimposing  consonants  to  gentle 
obscurity,  while  such  an  entry  in  the  visiting-book  had  been 
coolly  set  down  as  a  mistake.  Not  so  now,  however. 
Lady  Hester  took  up  the  card,  and,  instead  of  the  habitual 
curt  rejoinder,  "Sir  Stafford  is  better,"  said,  "You  may 
tell  Colonel  Haggerstone  that  Lady  Hester  will  receive 
him." 

The  gallant  colonel,  who  was  negligently  slapping  his 
boots  with  his  riding-whip  below  stairs,  was  not  a  little 
amazed  at  the  message.  There  had  been  a  time  when  he 
would  have  interpreted  the  favor  most  flatteringly.  He 
would  have  whispered  to  himself,  "  She  has  seen  me  pass- 
ing the  window,  —  she  was  struck  with  me  as  I  rode  by." 
Time  had,  however,  toned  down  these  bright  illusions,  and 
he  read  the  permission  with  a  nearer  approach  to  truth,  as 
a  fine-lady  caprice  in  a  moment  of  ennui.  "I  thought 
as  much,"  muttered  he  to  himself  as  he  slowly  ascended 
the  stairs;  "the  blockade  was  too  strictly  enforced  not  to 
tell  at  last.  No  newspapers,  no  books  —  ha !  ha !  Could  n't 
help  surrendering ! " 


A   FIRST   VISIT.  61 

The  colonel  had  by  this  time  given  his  whiskers  and 
moustaches  the  last  curl,  thrown  back  his  head  into  a 
position  of  calm  dignity,  as  the  servant,  throwing  wide 
the  folding-doors,  announced  him.  Advancing  two  paces, 
and  bowing  low,  Colonel  Haggerstone  said,  "  Your  Lady- 
ship will  pardon  the  liberty  —  the  very  great  liberty  —  I 
have  taken  in  my  respectful  inquiries  for  some  days  past ; 
but  although  probably  not  remembered  by  Sir  Stafford,  I 
once  did  enjoy  the  honor  of  his  acquaintance,  —  we  met  at 
Lord  Kerrison's,  in  Scotland." 

Lady  Onslow  cut  short  this  very  uninteresting  explanation 
by  a  bland  but  somewhat  supercilious  smile,  that  seemed  to 
say,  "What  possible  matter  can  it  be?"  while  at  the  same 
time  she  motioned  him  to  be  seated. 

"May  I  hope  that  Sir  Stafford  continues  to  improve?" 
said  he,  bowing  again. 

"He's  better  to-day,"  said  Lady  Onslow,  languidly. 
"Perhaps  as  well  as  anyone  can  be  in  this  wretched  place. 
You  heard,  I  suppose,  of  the  series  of  misfortunes  that  be- 
fell us,  and  compelled  us  to  return  here  ?  " 

The  colonel  looked  mildly  compassionate  and  inquisitive. 
He  anticipated  the  possible  pleasure  her  Ladyship  might  feel 
in  a  personal  narrative,  and  he  was  an  accomplished  listener. 
This  time,  however,  he  was  wrong.  Lady  Onslow  either  did 
not  think  the  occasion  or  the  audience  worth  the  trouble  of 
the  exertion,  and  merely  said,  "We  had  a  break-down  some- 
where with  an  odious  name.  Sir  Stafford  would  travel  by 
that  road  through  the  Hohlen  Thai,  where  somebody  made 
his  famous  march.     Who  was  it?  " 

"  Massena,  I  think,"  said  the  colonel,  at  a  haphazard, 
thinking  that  at  least  the  name  was  ben  trovato,  just  as 
Sunday-school  children  father  everything  remarkable  on 
John  the  Baptist. 

"Oh  dear,  no;  it  was  Moreau.  We  stopped  to  break- 
fast at  the  little  inn  where  he  held  his  headquarters,  and 
in  the  garden  of  which  he  amused  himself  in  pistol-shooting, 
—  strange,  was  it  not  ?     Are  you  a  good  shot,  Colonel  ?  " 

"  Good  among  bad  ones,"  said  the  colonel,  modestly. 

"  Then  we  must  have  a  match.  I  am  so  fond  of  it !  You 
have  pistols,  of  course  ?  " 


62  THE   DALTONS. 

"  I  am  fortunate  enough  to  have  a  case  of  Schlessinger's 
best,  and  at  your  Ladyship's  disposal." 

"  Well,  that  is  agreed  upon.  You  '11  be  kind  enough  to 
select  a  suitable  spot  in  the  garden,  and  if  to-morrow  be 
fine  —  By  the  way  what  is  to-morrow  —  not  Sunday  I 
hope?" 

The  colonel  relieved  her  anxieties  by  the  assurance  that 
the  next  day  would  be  Monday,  consequently  that  the 
present  one  was  Sunday. 

"How  strange!  One  does  make  sad  confusion  in  these 
things  abroad,"  said  she,  sighing.  "  I  think  we  are  better 
in  England  in  that  respect,  don't  you?" 

The  question  was  not  a  very  clear  one,  but  the  colonel 
never  hesitated  to  give  in  his  adhesion. 

"Sir  Stafford  always  took  that  view  in  the  House,  and 
consequently  differed  from  his  party,  as  well  as  about 
Ireland.     Poor  dear  Ireland  !  what  is  to  be  done  for  her?  " 

This  was  a  rather  more  embarrassing  demand  than  the 
previous  one,  and  the  colonel  hemmed  and  coughed,  and  pre- 
pared for  a  speech  of  subtle  generalities ;  but  the  dexterity 
was  all  unnecessary,  for  her  Ladyship  had  already  forgotten 
the  theme,  and  everything  about  it,  as  she  went  on.  "  How 
I  pity  those  dear  Wreckingtons,  who  are  condemned  to  live 
there !  The  Earl,  you  know,  had  promised  solemnly  that  he 
would  go  any  lengths  for  the  party  when  he  got  his  blue 
riband ;  and  so  they  took  him  at  his  word,  and  actually 
named  him  to  the  viceroyalty.  It  was  a  very  cruel  thing, 
but  I  hear  nothing  could  be  better  than  his  conduct  on  hear- 
ing it:  and  dear  Ladj'  Wreckington  insisted  upon  accom- 
panying him.  It  was  exactly  like  the  story  of  —  what  '& 
that  man's  name,  who  assisted  in  the  murder  of  the  Emperor 
Paul  —  Geroboffskoi,  or  something  like  that,  and  whose  wife 
followed  him  to  the  mines." 

The  colonel  avowed  that  the  cases  were  precisely  alike, 
and  now  the  conversation  —  if  the  word  can  be  degraded  to 
mean  that  bald  disjointed  chat  —  ran  upon  London  people 
and  events  —  their  mari'iages,  their  dinners,  their  separations, 
coalitions,  divorces,  and  departures ;  on  all  which  themes 
Haggerstone  affected  a  considerable  degree  of  knowledge, 
although,  to  any  one  less  occupied  with  herself  than  her 


A   FIRST  VISIT.  63 

Ladyship,  it  would  have  been  at  once  apparent  that  all  his 
information  was  derived  from  the  newspapers.  It  was  at  the 
close  of  a  lamentation  on  the  utter  stupidity  of  everything 
and  everywhere,  that  he  adroitly  asked  where  she  meant  to 
pass  the  winter. 

"  I  wish  I  knew,"  said  she,  languidly.  "  The  DoUingtons 
say  Naples ;  the  Upsleys  tell  us  Rome ;  and,  for  my  part,  I 
pronounce  for  neither.  Lady  Dollingtou  is  my  aversion, 
and  the  three  Upsley  girls,  with  their  pink  noses  and  red 
hair,  are  insufferable." 

"What  does  your  Ladyship  think  of  Florence?"  asked 
the  colonel,  soothingly. 

"  Pretty  much  what  I  might  of  one  of  the  Tonga  Islands. 
I  know  nothing  of  the  place,  the  people,  or  the  climate. 
Pray  tell  me  about  it." 

"  There  is  very  little  to  say,"  said  Haggerstone,  shrugging 
his  shoulders;  "  not  but  the  place  might  be  very  agreeable, 
if  there  were  some  one  of  really  fashionable  standing  to  take 
the  lead  and  give  a  tone  to  the  society  ;  some  one  who  would 
unite  indispensable  rank  and  wealth  with  personal  graces, 
and  thus,  as  it  were,  by  prescriptive  right,  assume  the  first 
place.  Then,  I  say,  Florence  would  be  second  to  no  city  of 
Italy.  Would  that  your  Ladyship  would  condescend  to 
accept  the  vacant  throne !  " 

"I!"  said  she,  affecting  astonishment;  and  then  laugh- 
ingly added:  "Oh  no!  I  detest  mock  sovereignty.  I 
actually  shudder  at  the  idea  of  the  lady-patroness  part; 
besides,  whom  should  one  have  to  reign  over?  Not  the 
Browns  and  Smiths  and  Perkinses ;  not  the  full-pensioned 
East  Indians,  the  half-pay  colonels,  and  the  no-pay  Irish  gen- 
tilities, that  form  the  staple  of  small  city  society.  You  surely 
would  not  recommend  me  to  such  a  sad  pre-eminence." 

The  colonel  smiled  flatteringly  at  her  Ladyship's  smart- 
ness, and  hastened  to  assure  her  that  such  heresy  was  far 
from  his  thoughts ;  and  then  with  a  practised  readiness  ran 
over  a  list  of  foreign  celebrities  —  French,  Russian,  and 
German  —  whose  names,  at  least,  clinked  like  the  true 
metal. 

This  looked  promisingly;  it  was  very  like  cutting  all 
English  society,  and  had  the  appearance  of  something  very 


64  THE  DALTONS. 

exclusive,  very  impertinent,  and  very  ungenerous ;  and  now 
she  lent  a  willing  ear  as  Haggerstone  revealed  a  plan  of 
operations  for  a  whole  winter  campaign.  According  to  his 
account,  it  was  a  perfect  terra  incognita^  where  the  territorial 
limits  and  laws  might  be  laid  down  at  will ;  it  was  a  state 
which  called  for  a  great  dictatorship,  and  the  sway  of 
unlimited  authority. 

Now,  Lady  Hester  had  never  —  at  least  since  her  mar- 
riage, and  very  rarely  even  before  it  —  been  more  than  on 
the  periphery  of  fashionable  society.  When  she  did  obtain 
a  footing  within  the  charmed  circle,  it  was  by  no  prescrip- 
tive right,  but  rather  on  some  ground  of  patronage,  or 
some  accidental  political  crisis,  which  made  Sir  Stafford's 
influence  a  matter  of  moment.  There  was,  therefore,  a 
flattery  in  the  thought  of  thus  becoming  a  leader  in  society ; 
and  she  shrewdly  remembered,  that  though  there  might  be 
little  real  power,  there  would  be  all  the  tyranny  of  a  larger 
sovereignty. 

It  is  true  she  suffered  no  symptom  of  this  satisfaction 
to  escape  her;  on  the  contrary,  she  compassionated  the 
"  poor  dear  things,"  that  thought  themselves  "  the  world," 
in  such  a  place,  and  smiled  with  angelic  pity  at  their  sweet 
simplicity ;  but  Haggerstone  saw  through  all  these  dis- 
guises, and  read  her  real  sentiments,  as  a  practised  toad- 
eater  never  fails  to  do,  where  only  affectation  is  the  pre- 
tence. Adroitly  avoiding  to  press  the  question,  he  adverted 
to  Baden  and  its  dreary  weather ;  offered  his  books,  his 
newspapers,  his  horses,  his  phaeton,  and  everything  that 
was  his,  even  his  companionship  as  a  guide  to  the  best 
riding  or  walking  roads,  and,  like  a  clever  actor,  made  his 
exit  at  the  very  moment  when  his  presence  became  most 
desirable. 

Lady  Hester  looked  out  of  the  window,  and  saw,  in  the 
street  beneath,  the  saddle-horses  of  the  colonel,  which  were 
led  up  and  down  by  a  groom  in  the  most  accurate  of  cos- 
tumes. The  nags  themselves,  too,  were  handsome  and  in 
top  condition.  It  was  a  little  gleam  of  civilization,  in  the 
midst  of  universal  barrenness,  that  brought  up  memories, 
some  of  which  at  least  were  not  devoid  of  pain,  so  far 
as  the  expression  of   her   features  might   be   trusted.     "  I 


A  FIRST   VISIT.  65 

wonder  who  he  can  be?"  said  she,  musing.  "It's  a 
shocking  name !  Haggerstone.  Perhaps  Sir  Stafford  may 
remember  him.  It's  very  sad  to  think  that  one  should  be 
reduced  to  such  people."  So,  with  a  slight  sigh,  she  sat 
down  to  indulge  in  a  mood  of  deep  and  sincere  commis- 
eration for  herself  and  her  sorrows. 

From  these  reveries  she  was  aroused  by  the  arrival  of 
a  package  of  books  and  papers  from  the  colonel.  They 
included  some  of  the  latest  things  of  the  day,  both  French 
and  English,  and  were  exactly  the  kind  of  reading  she  cared 
for,  —  that  half-gossipry  that  revolves  around  a  certain  set, 
and  busies  itself  about  the  people  and  incidents  of  one  very 
small  world.  There  were  books  of  travel  by  noble  authors, 
and  novels  by  titled  authoresses;  the  one  as  tamely  well 
bred  and  tiresome  as  the  others  were  warm  and  impas- 
sioned, —  no  bad  corroborative  evidence,  by  the  way,  of 
the  French  maxim,  that  the  "  safety  of  the  Lady  Georgi- 
nas  has  an  immense  relation  to  the  coldness  of  the  Lord 
Georges."  There  were  books  of  beauty,  wherein  loveli- 
ness was  most  aristocratic ;  and  annuals  where  nobility 
condescended  to  write  twaddle.  There  were  analyses  of 
new  operas,  wherein  the  list  of  the  spectators  was  the  only 
matter  of  interest,  and  better  than  these  were  the  last  fash- 
ions of  "  Longchamps,"  the  newest  bulletins  of  that  great 
campaign  which  began  in  Adam's  garden,  and  will  endure 
to  the  "very  crack  of  doom." 

Lady  Hester's  spirits  rallied  at  once  from  these  well- 
timed  stimulants ;  and  when  the  party  gathered  together 
before  dinner,  George  and  his  sister  were  amazed  at  the 
happy  change  in  her  manner. 

"  I  have  had  a  visitor,"  said  she,  after  a  short  mystifi- 
cation; "a  certain  colonel,  who  assumes  to  be  known  to 
your  father,  but  I  fancy  will  scarcely  be  remembered  by 
him,  —  he  calls  himself  Haggerstone." 

' '  Haggerstone !  "  said  George,  repeating  the  name  twice  or 
thrice.  "  Is  not  that  the  name  of  the  man  who  was  always 
with  Arlington,  and  of  whom  all  the  stories  are  told?" 

"As  I  never  heard  of  Arlington's  companion,  nor  the 
stories  in  question,  I  can't  say.  Pray  enlighten  us,"  said 
Lady  Hester,  tartly. 

VOL.  I.  —  5 


66  THE  DALTONS. 

"  Haggerstone  sounds  so  like  the  name,"  repeated  George 
to  himself. 

"  So  like  what  name?     Do  be  good  enough  to  explain." 

"  I  am  unwilling  to  tell  a  story  which,  if  not  justly  attrib- 
utable to  the  man,  will  certainly  attach  unpleasantly  to  his 
name  hereafter." 

"And  in  your  excessive  caution  for  yourself,  you  are 
pleased  to  forget  me,  Mr.  Onslow.  Pray  remember  that  if 
I  admit  him  to  acquaintance  —  " 

"  But  surely  you  don't  mean  to  do  so?" 

"  And  why  not?  " 

"  In  the  first  place,  you  know  nothing  about  him." 

"  Which  is  your  fault." 

"Be  it  so.  I  have  at  least  told  you  enough  to  inspire 
reserve  and  caution." 

"  Quite  enough  to  suggest  curiosity  and  give  a  degree  of 
interest  to  a  very  commonplace  character." 

"Is  he  young,  may  I  ask?"  said  George,  with  a  half 
smile. 

"  No,  far  from  it." 

"  Good-looking?" 

"Just  as  little." 

"Very  agreeable  and  well-mannered?" 

"  Rather  prosy,  and  too  military  in  tone  for  my  taste." 

"Does  he  come  under  the  recommendatory  'firman'  of 
any  dear  friend  or  acquaintance?" 

"Nothing  of  the  kind.  There  is  his  passport,"  said  she, 
pointing  to  his  visiting  ticket. 

"  Your  Ladyship  used  to  be  more  difficult  of  access,"  said 
George,  dryly. 

"Very  true;  and  so  I  may  possibly  become  again.  To 
make  selections  from  the  world  of  one's  acquaintance  is  a 
very  necessary  duty ;  but,  as  my  father  used  to  say,  no  one 
thinks  of  using  a  sieve  for  chaflf." 

"This  gentleman  is,  then,  fortunate  in  his  obscurity." 

"  Here  comes  Miss  Onslow,"  said  Lady  Hester,  "  who 
will  probably  be  more  grateful  to  me  w^hen  she  learns  that 
our  solitude  is  to  be  enlivened  by  the  gallant  colonel." 

Sydney  scanned  over  the  books  and  journals  on  the  table, 
and  then  quietly  remarked,  "  If  a  man  is  to  be  judged  of  by 


A  FIRST   VISIT.  67 

his  associates,  these  do  not  augur  very  favorably  for  the 
gentleman's  taste." 

"  I  see  that  you  are  both  bent  on  making  him  a  favorite 
of  mine,"  said  Lady  Hester,  pettishly;  "and  if  Dr.  Groun- 
sell  will  only  discover  some  atrocious  circumstance  in  his  his- 
tory or  character,  I  shall  be  prepared  to  call  him  '  charming.'  " 

The  announcement  of  dinner  fortunately  broke  up  a  dis- 
cussion that  already  promised  unfavorably;  nor  were  any 
of  the  party  sorry  at  the  interruption. 


CHAFPER   VII. 

A    LESSON   IN    PISTOL-SHOOTING. 

There  are  two  great  currents  which  divide  public  opinion  in 
the  whole  world,  and  all  mankind  may  be  classed  into  one 
or  other  of  these  wide  categories,  —  "  the  people  who  praise, 
and  the  people  who  abuse  everything."  In  certain  sets,  all 
is  as  it  ought  to  be,  in  this  life.  Everybody  is  good,  dear, 
and  amiable.  All  the  men  are  gifted  and  agreeable ;  all  the 
women  fascinating  and  pretty.  An  indiscriminate  shower 
of  laudations  falls  upon  everything  or  everybody,  and  the 
only  surprise  the  hearer  feels  is  how  a  world,  so  chuck  full 
of  excellence,  can  possibly  consist  with  what  one  reads 
occasionally  in  the  "Times"  and  the  "Chronicle." 

The  second  category  is  the  Roland  to  this  Oliver,  and 
embraces  those  who  have  a  good  word  for  nobody,  and  in 
whose  estimation  the  globe  is  one  great  penal  settlement,  — 
the  overseers  being  neither  more  nor  less  than  the  best- 
conducted  among  the  convicts.  The  chief  business  of  these 
people  in  life  is  to  chronicle  family  disgraces  and  misfor- 
tunes, to  store  their  memories  with  defalcations,  frauds, 
suicides,  disreputable  transactions  at  play,  unfair  duels, 
seductions,  and  the  like,  and  to  be  always  prepared,  on  the 
first  mention  of  a  name,  to  connect  its  owner,  or  his  grand- 
mother, with  some  memorable  blot,  or  some  unfortunate 
event  of  years  before.  If  the  everlasting  laudations  of  the 
one  set  make  life  too  sweet  to  be  wholesome,  the  eternal 
disparagement  of  the  other  renders  it  too  bitter  to  be  enjoy- 
able ;  nor  would  it  be  easy  to  say  whether  society  suffers 
more  from  the  exercise  of  this  mock  charity  on  the  one  side, 
or  the  practice  of  universal  malevolence  on  the  other. 

Perhaps  our  readers  will  feel  grateful  when  we  assure  them 
that  we  are  not  intent  upon  pushing  the  investigation  further. 
The  consideration  was  forced  upon  us  by  thinking  of  Colo- 


A  LESSON  IN  PISTOL-SHOOTING.  69 

nel  Haggerstone,  who  was  a  distinguished  member  of  class 
No.  2.  His  mind  was  a  police  sheet,  or  rather  like  a  page 
of  that  celebrated  "  Livre  Noir,"  wherein  all  the  unexpiated 
offences  of  a  nation  are  registered.  He  knew  the  family 
disasters  of  all  Europe,  and  not  a  name  could  be  mentioned 
in  society  to  which  he  could  not  tag  either  a  seduction,  a 
fraud,  a  swindle,  or  a  poltroonery;  and  when  such  revela- 
tions are  given  prosaically,  with  all  the  circumstances  of 
date,  time,  and  place,  unrelieved  by  the  slightest  spice  of 
wit  or  imagination,  but  simply  narrated  as  "  Memoires  pour 
servir  a  I'Histoire  "  of  an  individual,  the  world  is  very  apt 
to  accept  them  as  evidences  of  knowledge  of  life,  rather 
than  what  they  really  are,  —  proofs  of  a  malignant  disposi- 
tion. In  this  way,  Haggerstone  seemed  to  many  the  mere 
"old  soldier,"  and  nothing  more;  whereas,  if  nature  had 
given  him  either  fancy  or  epigrammatic  smartness,  he  would 
have  been  set  down  for  the  incarnation  of  slander. 

It  may  seem  strange  that  Lady  Hester,  who  had  lived  a 
good  deal  in  the  world,  should  never  have  met  a  character  of 
this  type,  but  so  it  was;  she  belonged  to  a  certain  "fast 
set "  in  society,  who  seem  to  ask  for  a  kind  of  indemnity 
for  all  they  do,  by  never,  on  any  occasion,  stopping  to  criti- 
cise their  neighbors.  This  semblance  of  good  nature  is  a 
better  defensive  armor  than  the  uninitiated  know  of,  enlisting 
all  loose  sympathies  with  its  possessor,  and  even  gaining  for 
its  advocates  that  great  floating  majority  who  speak  much 
and  think  little. 

In  London,  Haggerstone  would  have  at  once  appeared 
the  very  worst  "  ton,"  and  she  would  have  avoided  the 
acquaintance  of  a  man  so  unhappily  gifted ;  but  here,  at 
Baden,  with  nothing  to  do,  none  to  speak  to,  he  became 
actually  a  prize,  and  she  listened  to  him  for  hours  with 
pleasure  as  he  recounted  all  the  misdeeds  of  those  "dear, 
dear  friends"  who  had  made  up  her  own  "world."  There 
was  at  heart,  too,  the  soothing  flattery  that  whispered,  "  He 
can  say  nothing  of  me;  the  worst  he  can  hint  is,  that  I 
married  a  man  old  enough  to  be  my  father,  and  if  I  did, 
I  am  heartily  sorry  for  the  mistake." 

He  was  shrewd  enough  soon  to  detect  the  family  differ- 
ences that  prevailed,  and  to  take  advantage  of  them,  not 


70  THE   DALTONS. 

by  any  imprudent  or  ill-advised  allusion  to  what  would 
have  enlisted  her  Ladyship's  pride  in  opposition,  but  by 
suggesting  occupations  and  amusements  that  he  saw  would 
be  distasteful  to  the  others,  and  thus  alienate  her  more  and 
more  from  their  companionship.  In  fact,  his  great  object 
was  to  make  Lady  Hester  a  disciple  of  that  new  school 
which  owns  Georges  Sand  for  its  patron,  "and  calls  itself 
"  Lionue."  It  would  be  foreign  to  our  purpose  here  were 
we  to  stop  and  seek  to  what  social  causes  this  new  sect  owes 
existence.  In  a  great  measure  it  may  be  traced  to  the  pre- 
vailing taste  of  men  for  club  life,  —  to  that  lounging  ease 
which  exacts  no  tribute  of  respect  or  even  attention,  but 
suffers  men  to  indulge  their  caprices  to  any  extent  of  self- 
ishness ;  thus  unfitting  them  for  ladies'  society,  or  only 
such  society  as  that  of  ladies  condescending  enough  to  un- 
sex  themselves,  and  to  talk  upon  themes  and  discuss  sub- 
jects that  usually  are  reserved  for  other  audiences. 

Certain  clever  men  liked  this  liberty,  —  these  receptions 
were  a  kind  of  free  port,  where  all  could  be  admitted  duty 
free.  Nothing  was  forbidden  in  this  wide  tariff,  and  so 
conversation,  emancipated  from  the  restriction  of  better 
society,  permitted  a  thousand  occasions  of  displa}^  that 
gradually  attracted  people  to  these  reunions,  and  made  all 
other  society  appear  cold,  formal,  and  hypocritical  by  con- 
trast. This  new  invention  had  not  reached  England  when 
Lady  Hester  quitted  it,  but  she  listened  to  a  description 
of  its  merits  with  considerable  interest.  There  were  many 
points,  too,  in  which  it  chimed  in  with  her  nqtions.  It  had 
novelty,  liberty,  and  unbounded  caprice  amongst  its  recom- 
mendations ;  and  lastly,  it  was  certain  to  outrage  the 
"  Onslows."  It  was  a  "part"  which  admitted  of  any 
amount  of  interpolations.  Under  its  sanction  she  would 
be  free  to  say  anything,  know  any  one,  and  go  anywhere. 
Blessed  immunity  that  permitted  all  and  denied  nothing ! 

With  all  the  vulgar  requirements  of  "  Lionism "  she 
was  already  sufficiently  conversant.  She  could  ride,  drive, 
shoot,  and  fence;  was  a  very  tolerable  billiard-player,  and 
could  row  a  little.  But  with  the  higher  walks  of  the  craft 
she  had  made  no  acquaintance ;  she  had  not  learned  to 
swim,  had    never  smoked,  and  was  in   dark   ignorance   of 


A  LESSON  IN  PISTOL-SHOOTING.  71 

that  form  of  language  which,  half  mystical  and  all-mis- 
chievous, is  in  vogue  with  the  members  of  this  sect.  That 
she  could  acquire  all  these  things  rapidly  and  easily  the  colo- 
nel assured  her,  and,  by  way  of  "  matriculating,"  reminded 
her  of  her  challenge  respecting  the  pistol-shooting,  for  which 
he  had  made  every  preparation  in  the  garden  of  the  hotel. 

True  to  his  word,  he  had  selected  a  very  pretty  alley, 
at  the  end  of  which  rose  a  wall  sufficiently  high  to  guard 
against  accidents  from  stray  shots.  On  a  table  were  dis- 
played, in  all  the  dandyism  such  objects  are  capable  of, 
a  handsome  case  of  pistols,  with  all  the  varied  appliances 
of  kid  leather  for  wadding,  bullet-moulds,  rammers,  ham- 
mers, screws,  and  rests,  even  to  a  russia-leather  bound 
note-book,  to  record  the  successes,  nothing  had  been  for- 
gotten ;  and  Lady  Hester  surveyed  with  pleasure  prepara- 
tions which  at  least  implied  an  anxious  attention  to  her 
wishes. 

"  Only  fancy  the  barbarism  of  the  land  we  live  in,"  said 
he;  "I  have  sent  emissaries  on  every  side  to  seek  for  some 
of  those  plaster  images  so  common  in  every  city  of  Europe, 
but  in  vain.  Instead  of  your  ladyship  cutting  off  Joan  of 
Arc's  head,  or  sending  your  bullet  through  some  redoubt- 
able enemy  of  England,  you  must  waste  your  prowess  and 
skill  upon  an  ignoble  jar  of  porcelain,  or  a  vase  of  Bohe- 
mian glass ;  unless,  indeed,  my  last  messenger  shall  have 
proved  more  fortunate,  and  I  believe  such  is  the  case."  As 
he  spoke,  his  servant  came  up  with  a  small  parcel  carefully 
enveloped  in  paper. 

"  I  have  got  this  figure,  sir,"  said  he,  "  with  the  greatest 
difficulty,  and  only  indeed  by  pretending  we  wanted  it  as 
an  ornamental  statue.  The  little  fellow  of  the  toy-shop 
parted  with  it  in  tears,  as  if  it  had  been  his  brother." 

"It  is  very  beautiful!"  said  Lady  Hester,  as  she  sur- 
veyed a  small  wooden  statue  of  Goethe's  "  Marguerite," 
in  the  attitude  of  plucking  the  petals  of  a  flower  to  decide 
upon  her  lover's  fidelity. 

"A  mere  toy!"  said  Haggerstone.  "These  things  are 
carved  by  every  child  in  the  Black  Forest.  Does  your 
Ladyship  think  you  could  hit  the  feather  of  her  cap  with- 
out hurting  the  head?" 


72  THE   DALTONS. 

"I  couldn't  think  of  such  profanation,"  replied  she; 
"  there  is  really  something  very  pretty  in  the  attitude  and 
expression.  Pray  let  us  reserve  her  for  some  less  terrible 
destiny." 

But  the  colonel  persisted  in  assuring  her  that  these  were 
the  commonest  knick-knacks  that  adorned  every  peasant's 
cabin,  —  that  every  boor  with  a  rusty  knife  carved  similar 
figures,  and  in  the  midst  of  his  explanations  he  placed  the 
statue  upon  a  little  stone  pillar  about  twenty  paces  off. 

Lady  Hester's  objection  had  been  little  more  than  a 
caprice ;  indeed,  had  she  been  convinced  that  the  figure 
was  a  valuable  work  of  art,  she  would  have  felt  rather 
flattered  than  otherwise  at  the  costliness  of  the  entertain- 
ment provided  for  her.  Like  Cleopatra's  pearl,  it  would 
have  had  the  charm  of  extravagance  at  least ;  but  she  never 
gave  the  colonel  credit  for  such  gallautr}',  and  the  more 
readily  believed  all  he  said  on  the  subject. 

Colonel  Haggerstone  proceeded  to  load  the  pistols  with 
all  that  pomp  and  circumstance  so  amusingl}'  displayed  by 
certain  people  on  like  occasions.  The  bullets,  encased  in 
little  globes  of  chamois,  carefully  powdered  with  emery, 
were  forced  down  the  barrels  by  a  hammer,  the  hair  trigger 
adjusted,  and  the  weapon  delivered  to  Lady  Hester  with 
due  solemnity. 

"  If  I  go  wide  of  the  mark,  Colonel,  I  beg  you  to  remem- 
ber that  I  have  not  had  a  pistol  in  my  hand  for  above  three 
years ;  indeed,  it  must  be  nearly  four  years  since  I  shot 
a  match  with  Lord  Norwood." 

"Lord  Norwood!  indeed!"  said  Haggerstone.  "I 
wasn't  aware  that  your  Ladyship  had  ever  been  his  an- 
tagonist." 

Had  not  Lady  Hester  been  herself  anxious  to  hide  the 
confusion  the  allusion  to  the  viscount  always  occasioned  her, 
she  could  not  have  failed  to  remark  how  uncomfortably 
astonished  was  Haggerstone  at  the  mention  of  that  name. 
Nervously  eager  to  do  something  —  anything  that  might 
relieve  her  embarrassment  —  she  pulled  the  trigger;  but  the 
aim  was  an  erring  one,  and  no  trace  of  the  bullet  to  be 
seen. 

"There  's  no  use  in  looking  for  it.  Colonel  Haggerstone," 


A  LESSON  IN  PISTOL-SHOOTING. 


73 


said   she,    pettishly;    "I  'm  certain   I    was   very   wide   of 
the  mark." 

"I  'm  positive  I  saw  the  plaster  drop  from  the  wall  some- 
where hereabouts,"  said  the  complaisant  Colonel,  pointing 
to  a  spot  close  beside  the  figure.  "Yes,  and  the  twigs  are 
broken  here." 


"No  matter;  I  certainly  missed,  and  that's  quite  enough. 
I  told  you  I  should,  before  I  fired;  and  when  one  has  the 
anticipation  of  failure,  it  is  so  easy  to  vindicate  the 
impression." 

It  was  in  evident  chagrin  at  her  want  of  success  that  she 
spoke,  and  all  her  companion's  flatteries  went  for  nothing. 
Meanwhile,  he  presented  the  second  pistol,  which,  taking 
hastily,  and  without  giving  herself  time  for  an  aim,  she 
discharged  with  a  like  result. 


74  THE   DALTONS. 

"I  '11  not  try  again,"  said  she,  pettishly.  "Either  the 
pistols  don't  suit  me,  or  the  place  or  the  light  is  bad. 
Something  is  wrong,  that's  certain.' 

Haggerstone  bit  his  lip  in  silence,  and  went  on  reloading 
the  pistols  without  trusting  himself  to  reply.  A  little  con- 
flict was  going  on  within  him,  and  all  his  intended  flatteries 
for  her  Ladyship  were  warring  with  the  desire  to  display 
his  own  skill,  —  for  he  was  a  celebrated  shot,  and  not  a 
little  vain  of  the  accomplishment.  Vanity  carried  the  day 
at  last,  and  taking  up  the  weapon,  he  raised  it  slowly  to  a 
level  with  his  eye.  A  second  or  two  he  held  it  thus,  his 
hand  steady  as  a  piece  of  marble. 

"I  have  taken  my  aim,  and  now  you  may  give  the  word 
for  me  to  fire  when  you  please,"  said  he,  turning  his  eyes 
from  the  object,  and  looking  straight  at  Lady  Hester. 

She  stared  at  him  as  if  to  reassure  herself  of  the  direction 
of  his  glance,  and  then  called  out  "Fire!"  The  shot  rang 
out  clear  and  sharp;  with  it  arose  a  shrill  cry  of  agony, 
and  straight  before  them,  at  the  foot  of  the  pillar,  lay 
something  which  looked  like  a  roll  of  clothes,  only  that  by 
its  panting  motion  it  indicated  life.  Haggerstone  sprang 
forward,  and  to  his  horror  discovered  the  dwarf,  Hans 
Roeckle,  who,  with  his  arm  broken,  lay  actually  bathed  in 
blood.  With  his  remaining  hand  he  clasped  the  little 
statue  to  his  bosom,  while  he  muttered  to  himself  the  words 
' '  Gerettet !  —  saved !  saved !  " 

While  Lady  Hester  hurried  for  assistance,  Haggerstone 
bound  up  the  bleeding  "vessels  with  his  handkerchief;  and 
in  such  German  as  he  could  command,  asked  how  the  acci- 
dent had  befallen. 

A  few  low  muttering  sounds  were  all  the  dwarf  uttered, 
but  he  kissed  the  little  image  with  a  devotion  that  seemed 
like  insanity.  Meanwhile  the  colonel's  servant,  coming 
up,  at  once  recognized  Hans,  and  exclaimed,  "It  is  the 
little  fellow  of  the  toy-shop,  sir.  I  told  you  with  what 
reluctance  he  parted  with  this  figure.  He  must  be  mad,  I 
think." 

The  wild  looks  and  eager  expressions  of  the  dwarf,  as  he 
clutched  the  image  and  pressed  it  to  his  heart,  seemed  to 
warrant  the  suspicion;  and  Haggerstone  thought  he  could 


A   LESSON  IN  PISTOL-SHOOTING.  75 

read  insanity  in  every  line  of  the  poor  creature's  face.  To 
the  crowd  that  instantaneously  gathered  around  the  inn 
door,  and  which  included  many  of  his  friends  and  acquaint- 
ances, Hans  would  give  no  other  explanation  of  the  event 
than  that  it  was  a  mere  accident;  that  he  was  passing,  and 
received  the  shot  by  chance;  nothing  more. 

"Is  he  not  mad,  or  a  fool?"  asked  Haggerstone  of  the 
innkeeper. 

"Neither,  sir;  Hans  Roeckle  is  an  old  and  respected 
burgher  of  our  town,  and  although  eccentric  and  odd  in  his 
way,  is  not  wanting  for  good  sense  or  good  nature." 

"Ay!  ay!  "  cried  two  or  three  of  his  townsfolk,  to  whom 
the  landlord  translated  the  Colonel's  question;  "Hans  is  a 
kind-hearted  fellow,  and  if  he  loves  his  dolls  and  wooden 
images  over-much,  he  never  lacks  in  affection  for  living 
creatures." 

While  these  and  such-like  observations  were  making 
around  him,  the  dwarf's  wounds  were  being  dressed  by  his 
friend,  Ludwig  Kraus,  —  an  operation  of  considerable  pain, 
that  the  little  fellow  bore  with  heroic  tranquillity.  Not  a 
word  of  complaint,  not  a  syllable  of  impatience  escaped 
him;  and  while  from  his  half-closed  lips  a  low,  muttered 
exclamation  of  "Saved!  saved!"  came  forth  from  time  to 
time,  the  bystanders  deemed  it  the  utterance  of  gratitude 
for  his  own  escape  with  life. 

But  once  only  did  any  expression  of  irritation  burst  from 
him,  —  it  was  when  Haggerstone  pulled  out  his  purse,  and 
with  an  ostentatious  display  of  munificence  asked  him  to 
name  his  recompense.  "Take  me  home;  take  me  hence!" 
said  Hans,  impatiently.  "Tell  the  rich  '  Engliinder  '  that 
there  are  wounds  for  which  sorrow  would  be  an  ample  cure, 
but  there  are  others  which  insult  is  sure  to  fester." 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

THE    NIGHT    EXCURSION. 

The  remainder  of  the  day  after  the  dwarf's  misfortune  was 
passed  by  Lady  Hester  in  a  state  of  feverish  irritability. 
Sorry  as  she  felt  for  the  "sad  accident,"  —  her  own  phrase, 
—  she  was  still  more  grieved  for  the  effects  it  produced 
upon  herself;  the  jar  and  worry  of  excited  feelings,  the 
uncomfortableness  of  being  anxious  about  anything  or  any- 
body. 

Epicurean  in  her  code  of  manners  as  of  morals,  she 
detested  whatever  occasioned  even  a  passing  sensation  of 
dissatisfaction,  and  hence  upon  the  luckless  colonel,  the 
author  of  the  present  evil,  fell  no  measured  share  of  her 
displeasure.  "  He  should  have  taken  precautions  against 
such  a  mishap;  he  ought  to  have  had  sutBcient  presence  of 
mind  to  have  arrested  his  aim;  he  should  have  fired  in  the 
air,  —  in  fact,  he  ought  to  have  done  anything  but  what  he 
did  do;"  which  was  to  agitate  the  nerves,  and  irritate  the 
sensibilities,  of  a  fine  lady. 

The  conduct  of  the  family,  too,  was  the  very  reverse  of 
soothing.  Sir  Stafford's  gout  had  relapsed  on  hearing  of 
the  event;  George  Onslow's  anger  was  such  that  he  could 
not  trust  himself  to  speak  of  the  occurrence;  and  as  for 
Sydney,  though  full  of  sorrow  for  the  dwarf,  she  had  not  a 
single  sympathy  to  bestow  upon  her  stepmother.  "Were 
there  ever  such  people?"  she  asked  herself  again  and  again. 
Not  one  had  taken  the  trouble  to  ask  how  she  bore  up,  or 
express  the  slightest  anxiety  for  the  consequences  the  shock 
might  occasion  her. 

Grounsell  was  actually  insufferable;  and  even  hinted  that 
if  anything  untoward  were  to  happen,  the  very  grave  ques- 
tion might  arise  as  to  the  guilt  of  the  parties  who  appeared 
in  arms  without  a  Government  permission.     He  reminded 


THE  NIGHT  EXCURSION.  77 

her  Ladyship  that  they  were  not  in  England,  but  in  a  land 
beset  with  its  own  peculiar  prejudices  and  notions,  and  in 
nothing  so  rigorous  as  in  the  penalties  on  accidents  that 
took  their  origin  in  illegality. 

As  for  the  wound  itself,  he  informed  her  that  the  bullet 
had  "traversed  the  deltoid,  but  without  dividing  the 
brachial  artery;  and,  for  the  present,  sympathetic  fever 
and  subcutaneous  inflammation  would  be  the  worst  conse- 
quences." These  tidings  were  neither  very  reassuring  nor 
intelligible;  but  all  her  cross-examination  could  elicit  little 
better. 

"Has  Colonel  Haggerstone  been  to  see  him?  "  asked  she. 

"No,  madam.  His  groom  called  with  a  present  of  two 
florins." 

"Oh!    impossible,  sir." 

"  Perfectly  true,  madam.  I  was  present  when  the  money 
was  returned  to  the  man  by  a  young  lady,  whose  atten- 
tions to  the  sufferer  saved  him  the  pain  this  indignity  would 
have  cost  him." 

"A  young  lady,  did  you  say?  How  does  he  happen  to 
be  so  fortunate  in  his  attendance?" 

"Her  father  chances  to  be  this  poor  creature's  tenant,  and 
many  mutual  acts  of  kindness  have  passed  between  them." 

"Not  even  scandal  could  asperse  her  motives  in  the  pres- 
ent case,"  said  Lady  Hester,  with  an  insolent  laugh.  "It 
looked  hardly  human  when  they  lifted  it  from  the  ground." 

"Scandal  has  been  guilty  of  as  gross  things,  madam," 
said  Grounsell,  sternly,  "but  I  would  defy  her  here,  although 
there  is  beauty  enough  to  excite  all  her  malevolence."  And 
with  this  speech,  delivered  with  a  pointedness  there  was  no 
mistaking,  the  doctor  left  the  room. 

Impressions,  or  what  she  herself  would  have  called  "  feel- 
ings," chased  each  other  so  rapidly  through  Lady  Hester's 
mind,  that  her  whole  attention  was  now  directed  to  the 
young  lady  of  whom  Grounsell  spoke,  and  whose  singular 
charity  excited  all  her  curiosity.  There  is  a  strange  ten- 
dency to  imitation  among  those  whose  intelligences  lie 
unexercised  by  any  call  of  duty  or  necessity.  No  sugges- 
tion coming  from  within,  they  look  without  themselves  for 
occupation  and  amusement     Lady  Hester  was  a  prominent 


78  THE   DALTONS. 

disciple  of  this  school  ^  all  her  life  she  had  been  following, 
eager  to  see  whether  the  fashions  that  became,  or  the  pleas- 
ures that  beguiled,  others,  might  not  suit  herself.  If  such 
a  course  of  existence  inevitably  conduces  to  ennui  and 
discontent,  it  is  no  less  difficult  to  strive  against;  and  they 
who  follow  in  the  track  of  others'  footsteps  have  all  the 
weariness  of  the  road  without  the  cheering  excitement  of 
the  journey. 

If  the  young  lady  found  pleasure  in  charity,  why  should  n't 
she?  Benevolence,  too,  for  aught  she  knew,  might  be  very 
becoming.  There  were  a  hundred  little  devices  of  costume 
and  manner  which  might  be  adopted  to  display  it.  What 
a  pretty  version  of  the  good  Samaritan  modernized  one 
might  give  in  a  Shetland  scarf  and  a  cottage  bonnet  —  the 
very  thing  Chalons  would  like  to  paint;  and  what  an  effec- 
tive "interior"  might  be  made  of  the  dwarf's  chamber, 
crowded  with  rude  peasant  faces,  all  abashed  and  almost 
awe-struck  as  she  entered. 

The  longer  she  dwelt  upon  the  theme  the  more  fascinating 
it  became.  "It  would  be  really  worth  while  to  realize," 
said  she  to  herself  at  last  —  "so  amusing  —  and  so  odd,  an 
actual  adventure;  besides,  in  point  of  fact,  it  was  her  duty 
to  look  after  this  poor  creature."  Just  so;  there  never 
was  a  frivolous  action,  or  a  notion  struck  out  by  passing 
folly,  for  which  its  author  could  not  find  a  justification  in 
principle!  We  are  everlastingly  declaring  against  the 
knaveries  and  deceptions  practised  on  us  in  life;  but  if  we 
only  took  count  of  the  cheats  we  play  off  upon  ourselves,  we 
should  find  that  there  are  no  such  impostors  as  our  own 
hearts. 

Nobody  was  ever  less  likely  to  make  this  discovery  than 
Lady  Hester.  She  believed  herself  everything  that  was 
good  and  amiable;  she  knew  that  she  was  handsome. 
Whatever  contrarieties  she  met  with  in  life,  she  was  quite 
certain  they  came  not  from  any  fault  of  hers;  and  if  self- 
esteem  could  give  happiness,  she  must  have  enjoyed  it. 
But  it  cannot.  The  wide  neutral  territory  between  what 
we  think  of  ourselves  and  others  think  of  us  is  filled  with 
daring  enemies  to  our  peace,  and  it  is  impossible  to  venture 
into  it  without  a  wound  of  self-love. 


THE  NIGHT  EXCURSION.  79 

To  make  her  visit  to  the  dwarf  sufficient  of  an  adventure, 
it  must  be  done  in  secret;  nobody  should  know  it  but 
Celestine,  her  maid,  who  should  accompany  her.  Afifecting 
a  slight  indisposition,  she  could  retire  to  her  room  in  the 
evening,  and  then  there  would  be  abundant  time  to  put  her 
plan  into  execution.  Even  these  few  precautions  against 
discovery  were  needless,  for  George  did  not  return  to  dinner 
on  that  day,  and  Sydney  made  a  headache  an  excuse  for  not 
appearing. 

Nothing  short  of  the  love  of  adventure  and  the  indulgence 
of  a  caprice  could  have  induced  Lady  Hester  to  venture 
out  in  such  a  night.  The  rain  fell  in  torrents,  and  swooped 
along  the  narrow  streets  in  channels  swollen  to  the  size  of 
rivulets.  The  river  itself,  fed  b}'  many  a  mountain  stream, 
fell  tumbling  over  the  rocks  with  a  deafening  roar,  amid 
which  the  crashing  branches  of  the  pine-trees  were  heard 
at  intervals.  What  would  not  have  been  her  anxieties  and 
lamentings  if  exposed  to  such  a  storm  when  travelling, 
surrounded  with  all  the  appliances  that  wealth  can  compass! 
and  yet  now,  of  her  own  free  will,  she  wended  her  way  on 
foot  through  the  darkness  and  the  hurricane,  not  only  with- 
out complaining,  but  actually  excited  to  a  species  of  pleas- 
ure in  the  notion  of  her  imaginary  heroism. 

The  courier  who  preceded  her,  as  guide,  enjoyed  no  such 
agreeable  illusions,  but  muttered  to  himself,  as  he  went, 
certain  reflections  by  no  means  complimentary,  to  the 
whims  of  fine  ladies;  while  Mademoiselle  Celestine  inwardly 
protested  that  anything,  "not  positively  wrong,"  would  be 
dearly  purchased  by  the  dangers  of  such  an  excursion. 

"Gregoire!  Gregoire!  where  is  he  now!"  exclaimed 
Lady  Hester,  as  she  lost  sight  of  her  guide  altogether. 

"Here,  miladi,"  grunted  out  the  courier,  in  evident  pain; 
"I  fail  to  break  my  neck  over  de  stone  bench." 

"Where  's  the  lantern,  Gregoire?" 

"Blowed  away,  zum  Teufel,  I  believe." 
■    "What 's  he  saying,  Celestine?  what  does  he  mean?  " 

But  mademoiselle  could  only  answer  by  a  sob  of  agony 
over  her  capote  de  Paris^  flattened  to  her  head  like  a  High- 
laud  bonnet. 

"Have  you  no  light?     You  must  get  a  light,  Gregoire." 


80  THE   DALTONS. 

"Impossible,  miladi;  dere  's  nobody  livin'  in  dese  houses 
at  all." 

"Then  you  must  go  back  to  the  inn  for  one;  we  '11  wait 
here  till  you  return." 

A  faint  shriek  from  Mademoiselle  Celestine  expressed  all 
the  terror  such  a  proposition  suggested. 

"Miladi  will  be  lost  if  she  remain  here  all  alone." 

"Perdue!  sans  doute!  "  exclaimed  Celestine. 

"I  am  determined  to  have  my  way.  Do  as  I  bade  you, 
Gr^goire;  return  for  a  light,  and  we'll  take  such  shelter 
as  this  door  affords  in  the  meanwhile." 

It  was  in  no  spirit  of  general  benevolence  that  Gregoire 
tracked  his  road  back  to  the  "Russie,"  since,  if  truth  must 
be  told,  he  himself  had  extinguished  the  light,  in  the  hope 
of  forcing  Lady  Hester  to  a  retreat.  Muttering  a  choice 
selection  of  those  pleasant  phrases  with  which  his  native 
German  abounds,  he  trudged  along,  secretly  resolving  that 
he  would  allow  his  mistress  a  reasonable  interval  of  time 
to  reflect  over  her  madcap  expedition.  Meanwhile,  Lady 
Hester  and  her  maid  stood  shivering  and  storm-beaten 
beneath  the  drip  of  a  narrow  eave.  The  spirit  of  opposition 
alone  sustained  her  Ladyship  at  this  conjuncture,  for  she 
was  wet  through,  her  shoes  soaked  with  rain,  and  the  cold 
blast  that  swept  along  seemed  as  if  it  would  freeze  the  very 
blood  in  her  heart. 

Celestine  could  supply  but  little  of  comfort  or  conso- 
lation, and  kept  repeating  the  words,  "Quelle  aventure! 
quelle  aventure!  "  in  every  variety  of  lamentation. 

"He  could  easily  have  been  back  by  this,"  said  Lady 
Hester,  after  a  long  pause,  and  an  anxious  attention  to 
every  sound  that  might  portend  his  coming:  "I'm  certain 
it  is  full  half  an  hour  since  he  left  us.     What  a  night!  " 

"Et  quelle  aventure!  "  exclaimed  Celestine,  anew. 

None  knew  better  than  Lady  Hester  the  significant  depre- 
ciation of  the  Frenchwoman's  phrase,  and  how  differently 
had  she  rated  all  the  hazards  of  the  enterprise  if  any  compro- 
mise of  character  were  to  have  followed  it.  However,  it 
was  no  time  for  discussion,  and  she  let  it  pass. 

"  If  he  should  have  missed  the  way,  and  not  be  able  to 
find  us!  "  she  said,  after  another  pause. 


THE   NIGHT  EXCURSION.  81 

"We  shall  be  found  dead  in  the  morning,"  cried  Celes- 
tine;  "et  pour  quelle  aventure,  mon  Dieu,  pour  quelle 
aventure !  " 

The  possibility  that  her  fears  suggested,  and  the  increas- 
ing severity  of  the  storm  —  for  now  the  thunder  rolled  over- 
head, and  the  very  ground  seemed  to  shake  with  the  rever- 
beration —  served  to  alarm  Lady  Hester,  and  for  the  first 
time  she  became  frightened  at  their  situation. 

"We  could  scarcely  find  our  way  back,  Celestine!  "  said 
she,  rather  in  the  tone  of  one  asking  for  comfort  than 
putting  a  question. 

"Impossible,  miladi." 

"And  Gregoire  says  that  these  houses  are  all  unin- 
habited." 

"Quelle  aventure!  "  sobbed  the  maid. 

"What  can  have  become  of  him?  It  is  more  than  an 
hour  now!  What  was  that,  Celestine?  —  was  it  lightning? 
—  there,  don't  you  see  it  yonder,  towards  the  end  of  the 
street?     I  declare  it  is  Gregoire;  I  see  the  lantern." 

A  cry  of  joy  burst  from  both  together,  for  already  hope 
had  begun  to  wane,  and  a  crowd  of  fearful  anticipations 
had  taken  its  place. 

Lady  Hester  tried  to  call  his  name,  but  the  clattering 
noise  of  the  storm  drowned  the  weak  effort.  The  light, 
however,  came  nearer  at  each  instant,  and  there  was  no 
longer  any  doubt  of  their  rescue,  when  suddenly  it  turned 
and  disappeared  at  an  angle  of  the  street.  Lady  Hester 
uttered  a  piercing  cry,  and  at  the  instant  the  lantern  was 
again  seen,  showing  that  the  bearer  had  heard  the  sounds. 

"Here,  Gregoire,  we  are  here!"  exclaimed  she,  in  her 
loudest  voice,   and  speaking  in  English. 

Whoever  carried  the  lantern  seemed  for  a  moment  uncer- 
tain how  to  act,  for  there  was  no  reply^,  nor  any  change  of 
position  for  a  few  seconds,  when  at  length  the  light  was 
seen  approaching  where  Lady  Hester  stood. 

"I  think  I  heard  an  English  voice,"  said  one  whose 
accents  proclaimed  her  to  be  a  woman. 

"Oh  yes!  "  cried  Lady  Hester,  passionately,  "I  am  Eng- 
lish. We  have  lost  our  way.  Our  courier  went  back  to  the 
inn  for  a  lantern,  and  has  never  returned,  and  we  are  almost 

VOL.  I.  —  6 


82  THE   DALTONS. 

dead  with  cold  and  terror.  Can  you  guide  us  to  the  Hotel 
de  Russie?" 

"The  house  I  live  in  is  only  a  few  yards  ofif.  It  is 
better  you  should  take  shelter  there  for  the  present." 

"Take  care,  miladi!"  whispered  Celestine,  eagerly. 
"This  may  be  a  plot  to  rob  and  murder  us." 

"Have  no  fears  on  that  score,  mademoiselle,"  said  the 
unknown,  laughing,  and  speaking  in  French;  "we  are  not 
very  rich,  but  as  surely  we  are  perfectly  safe  company." 

Few  as  these  words  were,  there  was  in  their  utterance  that 
indescribable  tone  of  good  breeding  and  ease  which  at  once 
reassured  Lady  Hester,  who  now  replied  to  her  unseen 
acquaintance  with  the  observance  due  to  an  equal,  and 
willingly  accepted  the  arm  she  offered  for  guidance  and 
support. 

"At  the  end  of  this  little  street,  scarcely  two  minutes' 
walking,  and  you  will  be  there,"  said  the  unknown. 

Lady  Hester  scarcely  heard  the  remark,  as  she  ran  on 
with  voluble  levity  on  the  dangers  they  had  run,  —  the 
terrific  storm,  the  desertion  of  the  courier,  her  own  forti- 
tude, her  maid's  cowardice,  what  must  have  happened  if 
they  had  not  been  discovered,  —  till  at  last  she  bethought 
her  of  asking  by  what  singular  accident  the  other  should 
have  been  abroad  in  such  a  terrible  night. 

"A  neighbor  and  a  friend  of  ours  is  very  ill,  madam, 
and  I  have  been  to  the  doctor's  to  fetch  some  medicine  for 
him." 

"And  I,  too,  was  bent  upon  a  charitable  errand,"  said 
Lady  Hester,  quite  pleased  with  the  opportunity  of  parad- 
ing her  own  merits,  "to  visit  a  poor  creature  who  was  acci- 
dentally wounded  this  morning." 

"It  is  Hans  Roeckle,  our  poor  neighbor,  you  mean,"  cried 
the  other,  eagerly;  "and  here  we  are  at  his  house."  And 
so  saying,  she  pushed  open  a  door,  to  which  a  bell, 
attached  on  the  inside,  gave  speedy  warning  of  their 
approach. 

"Dearest  Kate!  "  cried  a  voice  from  within,  "how  uneasy 
I  have  been  at  your  absence!  "  And  the  same  moment  a 
young  girl  appeared  with  a  light,  which,  as  she  shaded  it 
with  her  hand,  left  her  unaware  of  the  presence  of  strangers. 


THE   NIGHT  EXCURSION.  88^ 

"Think  rather  of  this  lady,  and  what  she  must  have 
suffered,"  said  Kate,  as,  drawing  courteously  back,  she 
presented  her  sister  to  Lady  Hester. 

"Or  rather,  what  I  might  have  suffered,"  interposed  Lady 
Hester,  "but  for  the  fortunate  accident  of  your  coming. 
A  few  moments  back,  as  I  stood  shivering  beneath  the 
storm,  I  little  thought  that  I  should  owe  my  rescue  to  a 
countrywoman.  May  I  learn  the  name  of  one  to  whom  I 
am  so  deeply  indebted?" 

"Dalton,  madam,"  said  Nelly;  and  then  with  a  slight 
confusion,  added,  "we  ought,  perhaps,  to  tell  the  circum- 
stances which  induced  my  sister  to  be  abroad  at  such  an 
hour." 

"She  knows  it  all,"  broke  in  Kate,  "and  can  the  more 
readily  forgive  it,  as  it  was  her  own  errand.  But  will  not 
this  lady  come  near  the  fire?"  said  she,  addressing  Made- 
moiselle Celestiue,  who,  as  she  followed  the  rest  into  the 
humble  chamber,  was  bestowing  a  most  depreciatory  glance 
upon  the  place,  the  furniture,  and  the  people. 

"It  is  only  my  maid,"  said  Lady  Hester,  carelessly. 
"And  now  it  is  time  I  should  introduce  myself,  and  say 
that  Lady  Hester  Onslow  owes  you  all  her  gratitude." 
Ellen  courtesied  respectfully  at  the  announcement,  but  Kate 
Dalton's  cheek  colored  slightly,  and  she  bent  a  look  of 
more  than  common  admiration  at  the  handsome  figure  of 
the  stranger.  An  innate  reverence  for  rank  and  title  was 
rooted  in  her  heart,  and  she  was  overjoyed  to  think  that 
their  chance  acquaintance  should  be  one  of  that  class  so 
distinctively  marked  out  for  honor.  Prepared  to  admire 
every  grace  and  fascination  of  the  high-born,  Kate  watched 
with  eager  and  delighted  looks  the  slightest  gestures,  the 
least  traits  of  manner,  of  the  fashionable  beauty.  They 
were  all  attractions  to  which  her  heart  gave  a  ready 
response.  The  accent  in  which  she  spoke,  the  careless 
elegance  of  her  attitude  as  she  lay  back  in  her  chair,  the 
charming  negligence  with  which  she  wore  the  little  portions 
of  dress  exchanged  for  her  own,  were  all  inimitable  graces 
in  the  eye  of  the  simple  girl. 

As  for  Lady  Hester,  accustomed  to  all  the  servile  oflSces 
of   her   own    attendants,    to   be   punctiliously   obeyed  and 


84  THE   DALTONS. 

waited  on,  it  was  yet  a  new  sensation  to  watch  the  zealous 
and  eager  devotion  with  which  the  two  sisters  ministered  to 
her  wants.  In  utter  forgetfulness  of  themselves,  they  had 
brought  forth  the  little  resources  of  their  humble  wardrobe, 
too  happy,  as  it  seemed,  when  they  saw  their  sei'vices  so 
willingly  accepted.  Fortunately,  they  did  not  perceive  the 
contemptuous  looks  with  which  "mademoiselle"  regarded 
their  attentions,  nor  overheard  her  exclamation  of  "Mon 
Dieu !  where  did  they  gather  together  these  chiffo7is  ?  "  as 
she  surveyed  the  somewhat  antiquated  stores  of  their 
toilette. 

Even  had  Lady  Hester's  good  breeding  not  prompted  a 
gracious  reception  of  what  was  so  generously  oflfered,  the 
very  singularity  of  the  scene  would  have  had  its  charm  in 
her  estimation.  She  was  delighted  with  everything,  — 
even  to  Kate  Dalton's  slippers,  which,  by  a  most  happy 
flattery,  were  a  little  too  large  for  her.  She  fancied,  too, 
that  her  costume,  curiously  made  up  of  shreds  and  patches 
the  most  incongruous,  was  the  dress  of  an  Irish  peasant, 
and  was  in  an  ecstasy  at  the  thought  of  a  similar  one  at  her 
next  fancy  ball.  Besides  all  these  internal  sources  of  self- 
satisfaction,  the  admiration  of  the  two  sisters  was  another 
and  more  legitimate  cause  of  pleasure  i  for  even  Ellen,  with 
all  her  natural  reserve  and  caution,  was  scarcely  less 
impressed  than  Kate  with  the  charm  of  those  fascinations 
which,  however  destined  but  for  one  class  of  society,  are 
equally  successful  in  all. 

Ellen  Dalton's  life  had  not  been  devoid  of  trials,  nor  had 
they  failed  to  teach  their  own  peculiar  lessons ;  and  yet  her 
experiences  had  not  shown  her  how  very  like  right  feeling 
good  breeding  can  be,  and  how  closely  good  manners  may 
simulate  every  trait  of  a  high  and  generous  nature. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

A    FINE    lady's    blandishments. 

We  left  Lady  Hester,  in  our  last  chapter,  employed  in 
the  exercise  of  those  fascinations  which,  however  unlike 
in  other  respects,  have  this  resemblance  to  virtue,  that 
they  are  assuredly  their  own  reward.  The  charm  of  courtesy 
never  conferred  one  half  the  pleasure  on  those  for  whom 
it  was  exercised  as  to  him  who  wielded  it.  It  matters  little 
whether  the  magician  be  prince  or  "  charlatan,"  the  art  of 
pleasing  is  one  of  the  most  agreeable  faculties  human  nature 
can  be  endowed  with.  Whether  Lady  Hester  was  aware  of 
the  theory  or  not,  she  felt  the  fact,  as  she  saw  the  undis- 
guised admiration  in  the  faces  of  the  two  sisters ;  for  while 
she  had  won  over  Nelly  by  the  elevation  of  her  sentiments 
and  the  kindness  of  her  expressions,  Kate  was  fascinated  by 
her  beauty,  her  grace,  her  easy  gayety,  and  a  certain  voluble 
lightness  that  simulates  frankness. 

Without  anything  that  approached  the  prying  of  curi- 
osity, for  she  was  both  too  well  bred  and  too  little  interested 
to  have  so  felt  such  a  motive,  she  inquired  by  what  accident 
the  Daltons  remained  at  Baden  so  late  in  the  season,  affected 
to  see  some  similarity  between  their  cases  and  her  own, 
asked  in  the  most  feeling  terms  for  their  father,  whose 
ill-health  she  deplored,  and  then  took  such  an  interest  in 
"dear  Frank,"  that  Kate  could  not  resist  showing  a  por- 
trait of  him,  which,  however  humble  its  claims  to  art,  still 
conveyed  a  not  unfaithful  resemblance  of  the  handsome 
youth. 

While  thus  hearing  about  them^  she  was  equally  commu- 
nicative about  herself^  and  enlisted  all  the  sympathies  of 
the  girls  as  she  recounted  their  escape  from  the  torrent  in 
the   Black    Forest,  and  their  subsequent  refuge  in  Baden. 


86  THE   DALTONS. 

Thence  she  diverged  to  Sir  Stafford's  illness,  her  own 
life  of  seclusion  and  sadness,  and,  by  an  easy  transition, 
came  round  to  poor  Hans  Roeckle  and  the  accident  of  that 
morning. 

"  Do  tell  me  everything  about  the  poor  dear  thing,"  said 
she,  poutingly.     "  They  say  it  is  mad." 

"No,  madam,"  said  Nelly,  gravely;  "Hans,  with  many 
eccentricities  of  manner,  is  very  far  from  deficient  in  good 
sense  or  judgment,  and  is  more  than  ordinarily  endowed 
with  right  feeling  and  kindness  of  heart." 

"  He  is  a  dwarf,  surely?  " 

"  Yes,  but  in  intelligence  —  " 

"Oh,  that,  of  course,"  interrupted  she;  "they  are  rsrely 
deficient  in  aeuteness,  but  so  spiteful,  so  full  of  malice. 
My  dear  child,  there  's  no  trusting  them.  They  never  for- 
get an  injury,  nor  even  an  imaginary  slight.  There  was 
that  creature  —  what  was  his  name  ?  —  that  Polish  thing, 
Benywowski,  I  think  —  you  remember,  they  baked  him  in  a 
pie,  to  amuse  Charles  II.  —  well,  he  never  forgave  it  after 
wards,  and  to  the  day  of  his  death  could  never  bear  the 
sight  of  pastry." 

"I  must  except  poor  Hans  from  this  category,"  said 
Nelly,  mildly,  and  with  difficulty  restraining  a  smile.  "  He 
is  amiability  itself." 

Lady  Hester  shook  her  head  doubtfully,  and  went  on. 

"  Their  very  caprices,  my  dear,  lead  them  into  all  kinds 
of  extravagances.  For  instance,  this  poor  thing,  it  would 
seem,  is  so  enamored  of  these  wooden  toys  that  he  makes 
himself,  that  he  cannot  bear  to  part  with  them.  Now, 
there  's  no  saying  to  what  excesses  he  might  be  carried  by 
this  absurd  passion.  I  have  read  of  the  most  atrocious 
murders  committed  under  a  similar  fanaticism." 

"  I  assure  you,  madam,  there  need  be  no  fear  of  such  in 
the  present  instance.  In  the  first  case,  Hans  is  too  good  ;  in 
the  second,  the  objects  are  too  valueless." 

"Very  true,  so  they  are;  but  he  doesn't  think  them  so, 
you  know." 

"Nay,  my  Lady;  nor  would  you  either,  were  you  to 
regard  them  with  attention,"  broke  in  Kate,  whose  cheek 
was  now  one  glow  of   scarlet.     "  Even  this,  half  finished 


A   FINE   LADY'S  BLANDISHMENTS.  87 

as  it  is,  may  lay  claim  to  merit."  And  as  she  spoke,  she 
removed  a  napkin  from  a  little  statue,  before  which  she  held 
the  candle. 

"  For  shame,  Kate,  dearest  Kate!  "  cried  Nelly,  standing 
up  in  bashful  discomflture. 

"It  is  a  statuette  of  poor  Frank,  madam,"  continued 
Kate,  who,  totally  regardless  of  her  sister's  interruption 
now  exhibited  the  figure  nearer.  "  You  see  him  just  as  he 
left  us,  his  knapsack  on  his  shoulder,  his  sword  fastened 
across  it,  his  little  cap  on  one  side  of  his  head,  and  that 
happy  smile  upou  his  lips.  Poor  dear  fellow!  how  sad  a 
heart  it  covered  !  " 

"And  was  this  his  work?"  asked  Lady  Hester,  in 
astonishment. 

"No,  madam;  my  sister  Nelly  was  the  artist  of  this,  as 
of  all  the  others.  Unaided  and  untaught,  her  own  ingenuity 
alone  suggesting  the  means,  as  her  imagination  supplied  the 
conception  —  " 

"Kate!  dear,  dear  Kate!"  said  Ellen,  with  a  voice  of 
almost  rebuke.  "You  forget  how  unworthy  these  poor 
efforts  are  of  such  high-sounding  epithets."  Then,  turning 
to  Lady  Hester,  she  continued  :  "  Were  it  to  ears  less  chari- 
table than  yours,  madam,  these  foolish  words  were  spoken, 
I  should  fear  the  criticism  our  presumption  would  seem 
to  call  forth.  But  you  will  not  think  liarshly  of  us  for 
ignorance." 

"  But  this  figure  is  admirable ;  the  attitude  is  graceful ; 
the  character  of  the  head,  the  features,  are  in  good  keeping. 
I  know,  of  course,  nothing  of  the  resemblance  to  your 
brother,  but,  as  a  work  of  art,  I  am  competent  to  say  it  has 
high  merit.  Do  tell  me  how  the  thought  of  doing  these 
things  first  occurred  to  you." 

"  I  learned  drawing  as  a  child,  madam,  and  was  always 
fond  of  it,"  said  Ellen,  with  a  degree  of  constraint  that 
seemed  as  if  the  question  were  painful  to  answer. 

"Yes,  and  so  have  T  spent  months  —  ay,  I  believe  I 
might  say  years  —  at  the  easel,  copying  every  Giorgione  at 
Venice  and  every  Vandyk  at  Genoa,  and  yet  such  a  thought 
never  suggested  itself  to  me." 

"  I  am  happy  to  think  so,  madam,"  was  the  low  response. 


88  THE   DALTONS. 

"Why  80?  how  do  you  mean?"  asked  Lady  Hester, 
eagerly. 

"  That  the  motive  in  my  case  never  could  have  been  yours, 
madam." 

"  And  what  was  the  motive?  " 

"  Poverty,  madam.  The  word  is  not  a  pleasant  word  to 
syllable,  but  it  is  even  better  than  any  attempt  at  disguise. 
These  trifles,  while  beguiling  many  a  dreary  hour,  have 
helped  us  through  a  season  of  more  than  usual  difficulty." 

"Yes,  madam,"  broke  in  Kate.  "You  are  aware  that 
papa's  property  is  in  Ireland,  and  for  some  years  back  it  has 
been  totally  unproductive." 

"  How  very  sad  —  how  dreadful ! "  exclaimed  Lady 
Hester.  But  whether  the  expressions  referred  to  the  con- 
dition of   the  Daltons  or  of  Ireland,  it  is  not  quite  clear. 

"  I  doubt,  madam,  if  I  should  have  ventured  on  the  con- 
fession," said  Ellen,  with  a  voice  of  calm  firmness,  "  were  it 
not  for  the  opportunity  it  offers  of  bearing  testimony  to  the 
kindness  of  our  poor  friend  yonder,  Hans  RoSckle.  These 
efforts  of  mine  have  met  such  favor  in  his  eyes  that  he 
accepts  them  all,  taking  them  as  rapidly  as  they  are  finished, 
and,  I  need  not  say,  treating  me  with  a  generosity  that 
would  become  a  more  exalted  patron  and  a  better  artist." 

"It  is  quite  a  romance,  I  declare!  "  cried  Lady  Hester. 
"  The  Wood  Demon  and  the  Maiden.  Only  he  is  not  in  love 
with  you,  I  hope  ?  " 

"I'm  not  quite  sure  of  that,"  said  Kate,  laughing;  "at 
least,  when  some  rivalry  of  her  own  wooden  images  does  not 
intervene." 

"Hush!  Hans  is  awaking,"  said  Ellen,  as  on  tiptoe  she 
crossed  the  room  noiselessly,  and  opened  the  door  of  the 
chamber  where  the  dwarf  lay.  Lady  Hester  and  Kate  now 
drew  near  and  peeped  in.  On  a  low  settle  —  over  which  an 
old  scarlet  saddle-cloth,  fringed  with  tarnished  lace,  was 
spread  as  a  quilt  —  lay  Hans  Roeckle,  his  wounded  arm 
supported  by  a  pillow  at  his  side ;  his  dark  eyes  glistened 
with  the  bright  glare  of  fever,  and  his  cheeks  were  flushed 
and  burning,  as  his  lips  moved  unceasingly,  with  a  low  mut- 
tering, which  he  continued,  regardless  of  the  presence  of 
those  who  now  approached  his  bedside. 


A   FINE   LADY'S   BLANDISHMENTS. 


89 


"What  is  it  he  is  saying?  Does  he  complain  of  pain?" 
asked  Lady  Hester. 

"  I  cannot  understand  him,"  said  Nelly;  "  for  ever  since 
his  accident  he  has  spoken  in  his  native  dialect  —  the  patois 
of  the  Bregentzer  Wald  —  of  which  1  am  utterly  ignorant ; 


still  he  will  reply  to  me  in  good  German  when  questioned." 
Then,  stooping  down,  she  asked,  "  Are  you  better,  Hans?" 

Hans  looked  up  steadfastly  in  her  face  without  speaking ;  it 
seemed  as  if  her  voice  had  arrested  his  wandering  faculties, 
but  yet  not  awakened  any  intelligence. 

"You  are  thirsty,  Hans,"  said  she,  gently,  as  she  lifted 
a  cup  of  water  to  his  lips.     He  drank  greedily,  and  then 


90  THE   DALTONS. 

passed  his  hand  across  his  brow,  as  if  trying  to  dispel 
some  tormenting  fancies.  After  a  second  or  two,  he  said : 
"  It  was  in  Nuremberg,  in  the  Oden  Gasse,  it  happened. 
The  Ritter  von  Ottocar  stabbed  her  as  she  knelt  at  the 
cross;  and  the  dwarf,  Der  Mohrchen,  as  they  called  him, 
tore  off  his  turban  to  bind  up  the  wound ;  and  what  was 
his  reward,  maiden?  —  tell  me  that!  Are  ye  all  so  shamed 
that  ye  dare  not  speak  it?  " 

"  We  know  it  not,  Hans ;  we  never  heard  of  the  Ritter 
nor  the  Mohrchen  before." 

"  I  '11  tell  you,  then.  They  burned  him  as  a  warlock  in 
the  Hohen  Platz  next  morning."  With  a  wild  burst  of 
savage  laughter  he  closed  this  speech,  which  he  spoke  in 
good  German ;  but  immediately  after  his  thoughts  seemed 
to  turn  to  his  old  Tyrol  haunts  and  the  familiar  language  of 
his  native  land,  as  he  sang,  in  a  low  voice,  the  following 
words :  — 

"  A  Buchsel  zu  schiessen, 

A  Stossring  zu  schlagn, 

A  Dienal  zu  Liebn, 

Muss  a  Bue  hahn." 

"What  does  he  mean?  Do  tell  me,"  said  Lady  Hester, 
whose  interest  in  the  scene  was  more  that  of  curiosity  than 
compassion. 

"  It  is  a  peasant  dialect;  but  means,  that  a  rifle  to  shoot 
with,  a  weapon  to  wield,  and  a  maiden  to  love,  are  all  that 
a  good  Tyroler  needs  in  life,"  said  Kate,  while  Nelly 
busied  herself  in  arranging  the  position  of  the  wounded 
limb,  —  little  offices  for  which  the  poor  dwarf  looked  his 
gratitude  silently. 

"How  wild  his  looks  are!"  said  Lady  Hester.  "See 
how  his  eyes  glance  along  the  walls,  as  if  some  objects 
were  moving  before  them !  "  And  so  in  reality  was  it. 
Hanserl's  looks  were  riveted  upon  the  strange  and  incon- 
gruous assemblage  of  toys  which,  either  suspended  from 
nails  or  ranged  on  shelves,  decorated  the  sides  of  the 
chamber.  "  Ay,"  said  he  at  last,  with  a  melancholy  smile, 
"  thou  'It  have  to  put  off  all  this  bravery  soon,  my  pretty 
damsels,  and  don  the  black  veil  and  the  hood,  for  thy 
master  Hans  is  dying !  " 


A   FINE   LADY'S   BLANDISHMENTS.  91 

"  He  is  talking  to  the  wax  figures,"  whispered  Kate. 

"  And  ye  too,  my  brave  hussars,  and  ye  Uhlaners  with 
your  floating  banners,  must  lower  your  lances  as  ye  march 
in  the  funeral  procession,  when  Hanserl  is  dead !  Take 
down  the  wine-bush  from  the  door,  hostess,  and  kneel 
reverently,  for  the  bell  is  ringing;  and  here  comes  the 
priest  in  his  alb,  and  with  the  pix  before  him.  Hush !  they 
are  chanting  his  requiem.  Ah !  yes.  Hanserl  is  away  to 
the  far-off  land,  — 

Wo  sind  die  Tage  lang  genug, 
Wo  sind  die  Nacbte  mild." 

"  Come  away,  we  do  but  excite  his  mind  to  wanderings," 
said  Ellen :  "so  long  as  there  is  light  to  see  these  toys,  his 
fancy  endows  them  all  with  life  and  feeling,  and  his  poor 
brain  is  never  at  rest."  The  sound  of  voices  in  the  outer 
room  at  the  same  moment  caught  their  attention,  and  they 
heard  the  courier  of  Lady  Hester  in  deep  converse  with 
Mademoiselle  Celestine.  He,  deploring  the  two  hours  he 
had  passed  in  hunting  after  his  mistress  through  the  dark 
streets  of  the  village ;  and  she,  not  less  eloquently,  bewailing 
the  misery  of  a  night  spent  in  that  comfortless  cabin.  "  To 
visit  a  wretched  dwarf,  too  !  Parhleu  !  had  it  been  a  rendez- 
vous with  some  one  worth  while,  but  an  excursion  without  au 
object,  sans  emotion  meme,  —  it  is  too  bad !  " 

"  Que  voulez-vous !  "  said  Monsieur  Gregoire,  with  a  shrug 
of  the  shoulders  ;   "  she  is  English !  " 

"  Ah !  that  is  no  reason  for  a  vulgar  caprice,  and  I,  for 
one,  will  not  endure  it  longer.  I  cannot  do  so.  Such 
things  compromise  one's  self.  I  '11  give  warning  to-morrow. 
What  would  my  poor  dear  mistress,  la  Marquise,  say,  if  she 
only  knew  how  mes  petits  talents  were  employed  ?  " 

"  Do  not  be  rash,  mademoiselle,"  interposed  the  courier; 
"they  are  rich,  very  rich,  and  we  are  going  to  Italy  too, 
the  real  pays  de  Cocagne  of  our  profession." 

How  far  his  persuasions  might  have  gone  in  inducing 
her  to  reconsider  her  determination  there  is  no  saying, 
when  they  were  suddenly  interrupted  by  Lady  Hester's 
appearance. 

Her    first   care  was  to  ascertain  that    her  absence  from 


92  THE   DALTONS. 

the  hotel  had  not  been  remarked,  — her  secret,  as  she  loved 
to  fancy  it,  remamed  sacred.  Having  learned  thus  much, 
she  listened  with  a  kind  of  childish  pleasure  to  the  courier's 
version  of  all  his  unhappy  wanderings  in  search  of  her,  until 
he  at  last  descried  a  light,  the  only  one  that  shone  from  any 
window  in  the  whole  village. 

As  Gregoire  had  provided  himself  with  a  sufficient  num- 
ber of  shawls,  cloaks,  and  clogs,  and  as  the  storm  had  now 
passed  over.  Lady  Hester  prepared  to  take  her  leave,  de- 
lighted with  her  whole  night's  adventure.  There  had  been 
excitement  enough  to  make  it  all  she  could  desire ;  nor  did 
she  well  know  whether  most  to  admire  her  heroism  during 
the  storm,  or  the  success  with  which  she  captivated  the  two 
sisters ;  the  courage  which  planned  the  expedition,  or  the 
grace  with  which  it  was  executed. 

"You'll  come  and  see  me.  Miss  Dalton;  mind,  I'm 
always  at  home.  Remember,  Miss  Kate  Dalton,  that  they 
must  not  deny  me  to  you"  said  she,  in  her  most  winning 
of  manners.  The  two  girls  gave  their  promise  in  bashful 
diffidence,  while  she  continued,  — 

"  You'll  say  to  your  papa,  too,  that  Sir  Stafford  will  wait 
on  him  whenever  he  is  able  to  leave  the  house.  Mr.  Onslow, 
indeed,  ought  to  call  at  once ;  but  he  is  so  odd.  Never 
mind,  we  shall  be  great  friends ;  and  you  '11  bring  all  your 
little  carving  tools  and  your  models  with  you,  and  work  in 
my  room.  Your  sister  her  embroidery,  or  her  lace,  or  her 
crochet,  or  whatever  it  is,  or  you  '11  read  German  for  me, 
like  a  dear  child,  —  that  will  be  so  delightful.  I  can't  under- 
stand a  word  of  it,  but  it  sounds  so  soft,  and  you  '11  tell  me 
all  it 's  about  —  won't  you  ?  And  then  this  poor  thing  must 
want  for  nothing." 

"  Nay,  madam,  he  is  in  no  need  of  anything  but  kindness. 
In  a  land  where  such  simple  habits  prevail,  Hans  Roeckle 
passes  for  rich." 

"  How  strange !  how  very  odd  !  but  I  remember  that  poor 
Prince  of  Stolzenheimer.  Papa  used  to  say  that  he  had  six 
cordons,  but  only  one  coat!     I  believe  it  was  true." 

"  Hanserl  is  better  off,  madam,"  replied  Nelly,  smiling; 
"  at  least  as  regards  the  coats." 

"  Tell  him,  then,  that  I  've  been  to  see  him,  and  am  so 


A   FINE   LADY'S   BLANDISHMENTS.  93 

grieved  at  his  accident,  but  that  it  was  all  Colonel  Hag- 
gerstone's  fault,  —  a  bit  of  silly  vanity  to  show  how  well 
he  could  shoot,  —  and  I  'm  certain  it  just  comes  of  being 
used  to  the  pistols.  I  never  missed  when  I  fired  with 
Norwood's !  " 

The  utterance  of  that  name  seemed  to  recall  her  from  the 
discursive  babble.  She  paused,  and  for  a  moment  or  two 
she  was  silent.  At  last,  turning  to  the  sisters,  she  reiter- 
ated her  hopes  of  a  speedy  meeting,  and  with  a  cordial 
pressure  of  the  hand  to  each,  wished  her  last  good-night, 
and  departed. 


CHAPIER  X. 

A    FAMILY    DISCUSSION. 

Long  before  Lady  Hester  awoke  on  the  following  morning 
every  circumstance  of  her  visit  was  known  to  Grounsell. 
It  was  the  doctor's  custom  to  see  Dalton  early  each  day, 
and  before  Sir  Stafford  was  stirring,  and  to  chat  away  an 
hour  or  so  with  the  invalid,  telling  the  current  news  of  the 
time,  and  cheering  his  spirits  by  those  little  devices  which 
are  not  among  the  worst  resources  of  the  Materia  Medica. 
With  all  his  knowledge  of  Lady  Hester's  character,  —  her 
caprices,  her  whims,  and  her  insatiable  passion  for  excite- 
ment, he  was  still  astonished  beyond  measure  at  this  step : 
not  that  the  false  air  of  benevolence  or  charity  deceived  him, 
—  he  was  too  old  a  practitioner  in  medicine,  and  had  seen 
far  too  much  of  the  dark  side  of  human  nature,  to  be  easily 
gulled,  —  but  his  surprise  arose  from  the  novelty  of  her  con- 
descending to  know,  and  even  propitiate,  the  good  graces  of 
people  whom  she  usually  professed  to  regard  as  the  least 
interesting  of  all  classes  of  mankind.  The  "  reduced  lady 
or  gentleman  "  had  only  presented  themselves  to  Lady  Hes- 
ter's mind  by  the  medium  of  an  occasional  curiously  worded 
advertisement  in  a  morning  paper,  and  were  invariably  as- 
sociated with  a  subsequent  police  report,  where  the  object 
of  charity  was  sure  to  be  confronted  with  half  a  dozen  peers 
or  members  of  parliament,  whose  sympathies  he  had  put 
under  contribution,  to  support  a  life  of  infamy  or  extrava- 
gance. "A  begging  impostor"  rang  in  her  mind  as  a 
phrase  whose  ingredient  words  could  not  be  divorced,  and 
she  was  thoroughly  convinced  that  imposture  and  poverty 
were  convertible  terms.  The  very  notion  of  any  one  having 
once  been  well  off,  and  being  now  in  embarrassment,  was, 
to  her  deeming,  most  satisfactory  evidence  of  past  miscon- 


A  FAMILY   DISCUSSION.  95 

duct  and  present  knavery.  Grounsell  had  beard  her  hold 
forth  on  this  theme  more  than  once,  "embroidering  the 
sentiment"  with  an  occasional  sly  allusion  to  himself  and 
his  own  fortunes,  so  that  he  had  often  thought  over  the 
difficulty  of  serving  the  Daltons  with  Sir  Stafford,  by  re- 
flecting on  the  hostility  any  project  would  meet  with  from 
"  my  Lady,"  and  now  accident,  or  something  very  like  it, 
had  done  what  all  his  ingenuity  could  not  succeed  in  dis- 
covering. 

The  announcement  at  first  rendered  him  perfectly  mute ; 
he  heard  it  without  power  to  make  the  slightest  observation ; 
and  it  was  onl}'  at  the  end  of  a  lengthy  description  from  the 
two  sisters,  that  he  exclaimed,  in  a  kind  of  half  soliloquy, 
"  By  Jove,  it  is  so  like  her,  after  all !  " 

"  I  'm  sure  of  it,"  said  Nelly ;  "  her  manner  was  kindness 
and  gentleness  itself.  You  should  have  seen  the  tender 
way  she  took  poor  Hanserl's  hand  in  her  own,  and  how 
eagerly  she  asked  us  to  translate  for  her  the  few  stray  words 
he  uttered." 

"  Of  course  she  did.  I  could  swear  to  it  all,  now  that  my 
eyes  are  opened." 

"And  with  what  winning  grace  she  spoke!  "  cried  Kate. 
' '  How  the  least  phrase  came  from  her  lips  with  a  fascination 
that  still  haunts  me  !  " 

"  Just  so,  just  so !  "  muttered  Grounsell. 

"  How  such  traits  of  benevolence  ennoble  high  station!  " 
said  Nelly. 

"  How  easy  to  credit  all  that  one  hears  of  the  charms  of 
intercourse,  where  manner  like  hers  prevails  on  every  side !  " 
cried  Kate,  enthusiastically. 

"  How  thoughtful  in  all  her  kindness !  " 

"  What  elegance  in  every  movement!  " 

"With  what  inborn  courtesy  she  accepted  the  little  value- 
less attentions,  which  were  all  we  could  render  her !  " 

"  How  beautiful  she  looked,  in  all  the  disorder  of  a  dress 
so  unlike  her  own  splendor !  I  could  almost  fancy  that 
old  straw  chair  to  be  a  handsome  fauteuil  since  she  sat 
in  it." 

"  How  delightful  it  must  be  to  be  admitted  to  the  freedom 
of  daily  intercourse  with  such  a  person,  —  to  live  within  the 


96  THE   DALTONS. 

atmosphere  of  such  goodness  and  such  refinement !  "  And 
thus  they  went  on  ringing  the  changes  upon  every  gift  and 
grace,  from  the  genial  warmth  of  her  heart,  to  the  snowy 
whiteness  of  her  dimpled  hands ;  while  Grounsell  fidgeted 
in  his  chair,  searched  for  his  handkerchief,  his  spectacles, 
his  snuff-box,  dropped  them  all  in  turn,  and  gathered 
them  up  again,  in  a  perfect  fever  of  embai-rassment  and 
indecision. 

"  And  you  see  her  every  day,  doctor?  "    said  Nelly. 

"  Yes,  every  day,  madam,"  said  he,  hastily,  and  not 
noticing  nor  thinking  to  whom  he  was  replying. 

"  And  is  she  always  as  charming,  always  as  fascinating?" 

"Pretty  much  the  same,  I  think,"  said  he,  with  a  grunt. 

"  How  delightful !  And  always  m  the  same  buoyancy 
of  spirits?" 

"  Very  little  changed  in  that  respect,"  said  he,  with 
another  grunt. 

"We  have  often  felt  for  poor  Sir  Stafford  being  taken 
ill  away  from  his  home,  and  obliged  to  put  up  with  the 
miserable  resources  of  a  watering-place  in  winter;  but  I 
own,  when  I  think  of  the  companionship  of  Lady  Hester, 
much  of  my  compassion  vanishes." 

"  He  needs  it  all,  then,"  said  Grounsell,  as,  thrusting 
his  hands  into  the  recesses  of  his  pockets,  he  sat  a  perfect 
picture  of  struggling  embarrassment. 

"Are  his  sufferings  so  very  great?" 

Grounsell  nodded  abruptly,  for  now  he  was  debating 
within  himself  what  course  to  take ;  for  while,  on  one  side, 
he  deemed  it  a  point  of  honor  not  to  divulge  to  strangers, 
as  were  the  Daltons,  any  of  the  domestic  circumstances  of 
those  with  whom  he  lived,  he  felt,  on  the  other,  reluctant 
to  suffer  Lady  Hester's  blandishments  to  pass  for  qualities 
more  sterling  and  praiseworthy. 

"  She  asked  the  girls  to  go  and  see  her,"  said  Dalton, 
now  breaking  silence  for  the  first  time ;  for  altliough  flat- 
tered in  the  main  by  what  he  heard  of  the  fine  lady's  man- 
ner towards  his  daughtei's,  he  was  not  without  misgivings 
that  what  they  interpreted  as  courtesy  might  just  as  prob- 
ably be  called  condescension,  against  which  his  Irish  pride 
of  birth   and  blood   most   sturdily  rebelled.     "  She   asked 


A  FAMILY  DISCUSSION.  97 

them  to  go  and  see  her,  and  it  was  running  in  my  head  if  she 
might  not  have  heard  something  of  the  family  connection." 

"Possibly!"  asserted  Grounsell,  too  deep  in  his  own 
calculations  to  waste  a  thought  on  such  a  speculation. 

"My  wife's  uncle,  Joe  Godfrey,  married  an  English- 
woman. The  sister  was  aunt  to  some  rich  city  banker; 
and  indeed,  to  tell  the  truth,  his  friends  in  Ireland  never 
thought  much  of  the  connection  —  but  you  see  times  are 
changed.  They  are  up  now,  and  we  are  down,  —  the  way 
of  the  world !  It 's  little  I  ever  thought  of  claiming  rela- 
tionship with  the  like  o'  them !  " 

"  But  if  it 's  they  who  seek  us,  papa?"  whispered  Kate. 

"Ay,  that  alters  the  case,  my  dear;  not  but  I'd  as  soon 
excuse  the  politeness.  Here  we  are,  living  in  a  small  way; 
till  matters  come  round  in  Ireland,  we  can't  entertain  them, 

—  not  even  give  them  a  dinner-party." 

"  Oh,  dearest  papa,"  broke  in  Nelly,  "  is  not  our  poverty 
a  blessing  if  it  save  us  the  humiliation  of  being  absurd? 
Why  should  we  think  of  such  a  thing?  Why  should  we, 
with  our  straitened  means  and  the  habits  narrow  fortune 
teaches,  presume  even  to  a  momentary  equality  with  those 
so  much  above  us." 

"Faith,  it's  true  enough!"  cried  Dalton,  his  cheek 
flushed  with  anger.  "We  are  changed,  there's  no  doubt 
of  it ;  or  it  is  not  a  Dalton  would  say  the  words  you  've 
just  said.  I  never  knew  before  that  the  best  in  the  land 
wasn't  proud  to  come  under  our  roof." 

"When  we  had  a  roof,"  said  Nelly,  firmly.  "  And  if 
these  ancestors  had  possessed  a  true  and  a  higher  pride, 
mayhap  we  might  still  have  one.  Had  they  felt  shame  to 
participate  in  schemes  of  extravagance  and  costly  display, 

—  had  they  withheld  encouragement  from  a  ruinous  mode 
of  living,  —  we  might  still  be  dwellers  in  our  own  home 
and  our  own  country." 

Dalton  seemed  thunderstruck  at  the  boldness  of  a  speech 
so  unlike  the  gentle  character  of  her  who  had  uttered  it. 
To  have  attributed  any  portion  of  the  family  calamities  to 
their  own  misconduct  —  to  have  laid  the  blame  of  their 
downfall  to  any  score  save  that  of  English  legislation,  acts 
of  parliament,  grand-jury  laws,  failure  of  the  potato  crop, 


98  THE  DALTONS. 

tithes,  Terry  alts,  or  smut  in  the  wheat  —  was  a  heresy  he 
never,  ia  his  gloomiest  moments,  had  imagined,  and  now 
he  was  to  hear  it  from  the  lips  of  his  own  child. 

"Nelly  —  Nelly  Dal  ton,"  said  he;  "but  why  do  I  call  you 
Dalton  ?  Have  you  a  drop  of  our  blood  in  your  veins  at  all, 
or  is  it  the  Godfreys  you  take  after?  Extravagance,  ruin- 
ous living,  waste,  — what  '11  you  say  next?  "  He  could  n't 
continue,  indignation  and  anger  seemed  almost  to  suffocate 
him. 

"Papa, — dearest,  kindest  papa!"  cried  Nelly,  as  the 
tears  burst  from  her  eyes,  "be  not  angry  with  me,  nor 
suppose  that  any  ungenerous  repining  against  our  altered 
lot  finds  a  place  in  my  heart.  God  knows  that  I  grieve  not 
for  myself;  in  the  humble  sphere  in  which  I  am  placed,  I 
have  found  true  contentment,  —  greater,  perhaps,  than 
higher  fortunes  would  have  given  me;  for  here  my  duties 
are  better  defined,  and  my  sense  of  them  is  clearer.  If  I 
feel  sorrow,  it  is  for  you  and  my  dear  sister, —  for  you,  papa, 
who  suffer  from  many  a  privation ;  for  her,  who  might  well 
adorn  a  more  exalted  station.  But  for  me  —  the  lame 
Nelly,  as  children  used  to  call  me  — "  She  was  not 
suffered  to  finish  her  speech,  for  already  her  father  had 
clasped  his  arms  around  her,  and  Kate,  in  a  gush  of  tears, 
was  sobbing  on  his  shoulder. 

"Where's  the  doctor?  what's  become  of  him?"  said 
Dalton,  as,  recovering  from  his  emotion,  he  wished  to  give 
a  different  direction  to  their  thoughts. 

"He  went  away  half  an  hour  ago,  papa,"  said  Kate.  "He 
always  goes  off  without  saying  good-bye,  whenever  there  is 
a  word  said  about  family." 

"I  noticed  that,  too,  my  dear,"  said  Dalton,  "and  I 
would  n't  wonder  if  he  came  of  low  people;  not  but  he 's  a 
kind  creature,  and  mighty  good-hearted." 

Nelly  could  probably  have  suggested  a  better  reason  for 
the  doctor's  conduct,  but  she  prudently  forbore  from  again 
alluding  to  a  theme  already  too  painful. 

With  the  reader's  permission,  we  will  now  follow  him  as, 
with  a  gesture  of  impatience,  he  abruptly  left  the  room  on 
the  very  first  mention  by  Dalton  of  that  genealogical  tree 
in  whose  branches  he  loved  to  perch  himself. 


A  FAMILY  DISCUSSION.  99 

"An  old  fool!"  muttered  Grounsell,  as  he  passed  down- 
stairs, — "  an  old  fool,  that  no  experience  will  ever  make 
wiser!  Well  may  his  native  country  be  a  stumbling-block 
to  legislators,  if  his  countrymen  be  all  like  him,  with  his 
family  pride  and  pretension!  Confound  him!  can't  he  see 
that  there 's  no  independence  for  a  man  in  debt,  and  no  true 
self-respect  left  for  him  who  can't  pay  his  tailor?  For 
himself  there's  no  help;  but  the  poor  girls!  he'll  be  the 
ruin  of  them.  Kate  is  already  a  willing  listener  to  his 
nonsensical  diatribes  about  blood  and  family;  and  poor 
Nelly's  spirits  will  be  broken  in  the  hopeless  conflict  with 
his  folly!  Just  so,  that  will  be  the  end  of  it;  he  will  turn 
the  head  of  one,  and  break  the  heart  of  the  other;  and  yet, 
all  the  while,  he  firmly  believes  he  is  leaving  a  far  better 
heritage  behind  him  in  this  empty  pride,  than  if  he  could 
bequeath  every  acre  that  once  belonged  to  them."  Thus 
soliloquizing,  he  went  on  ringing  changes  over  every  form 
of  imprudence,  waste,  vanity,  and  absurdity,  which,  by 
applying  to  them  the  simple  adjective  of  "Irish,"  he  fancied 
were  at  once  intelligible,  and  needed  no  other  explanation. 
In  this  mood  he  made  his  entrance  into  Sir  Stafford's  cham- 
ber, and  so  full  of  his  own  thoughts  that  the  worthy  baronet 
could  not  fail  to  notice  his  preoccupation. 

"Eh!  Grounsel,  what 's  the  matter, —  another  row  with  my 
Lady,  eh?  "  said  he,  smiling  with  his  own  quiet  smile. 

"Not  to-day.  "We've  not  met  this  morning,  and,  conse- 
quently, the  armistice  of  yesterday  is  still  unbroken !  The 
fatigue  of  last  night  has,  doubtless,  induced  her  to  sleep  a 
little  longer,  and  so  I  have  contrived  to  arrive  at  noon 
without  the  risk  of  an  apoplexy." 

"What  fatigue  do  you  allude  to?" 

"  Oh,  I  forgot  —  I  have  a  long  story  for  you.  What  do 
you  suppose  her  Ladyship  has  been  performing  now  ?  " 

"I've  heard  all  about  it,"  said  Sir  Stafford,  pettishly. 
"George  has  given  me  the  whole  naiTative  of  that  unlucky 
business.  We  must  take  care  of  the  poor  fellow,  Grounsell, 
and  see  that  he  wants  for  nothing." 

"You 're  thinking  of  the  pistol-shooting;  but  that 's  not 
her  Ladyship's  last,"  said  the  doctor,  with  a  malicious  laugh. 
"It  is  as  a  Lady  Bountiful  she  has  come  out,  and  made 


100  THE  DALTONS. 

her  debut  last  night  —  I  am  bound  to  say  with  infinite  suc- 
cess." And,  without  further  preface,  Grounsell^  related  the 
whole  adventure  of  Lady  Hester's  visit  to  the  dwarf,  omit- 
ting nothing  of  those  details  we  have  already  laid  before  the 
reader,  and  dilating  with  all  his  own  skill  upon  the  possible 
consequences  of  the  step.  "I  have  told  you  already  about 
these  people:  of  that  old  fool,  the  father,  with  his  Irish 
pride,  his  Irish  pretensions,  his  poverty,  and  his  insane 
notions  about  family.  Well,  his  head  —  a  poor  thing  in 
the  best  of  times  —  is  gone  clean  mad  about  this  visit. 
And  then  the  girls!  good,  dear,  affectionate  children  as 
they  are,  they  're  in  a  kind  of  paroxysm  of  ecstasy  about 
her  Ladyship's  style,  her  beauty,  her  dress,  the  charm  of 
her  amiability,  the  fascination  of  her  manner.  Their  little 
round  of  daily  duties  will  henceforth  seem  a  dreary  toil; 
the  very  offices  of  their  charity  will  lose  all  the  glow  of  zeal 
when  deprived  of  that  elegance  which  refinement  can  throw 
over  the  veriest  trifle.  Ay!  don't  smile  at  it,  — the  fact  is  a 
stubborn  one.  They  'd  barter  the  deepest  devotion  they 
ever  rendered  to  assuage  pain  for  one  trick  of  that  flattery 
with  which  my  Lady  captivated  them.  Will  all  the  poetry 
of  poor  Nelly's  heart  shut  out  the  memory  of  graces  asso- 
ciated with  the  vanities  of  fashion  ?  Will  all  Kate's  dutiful 
affection  exalt  those  household  drudgeries  in  her  esteem, 
the  performances  of  which  will  henceforth  serve  to  sepa- 
rate her  more  and  more  from  one  her  imagination  has 
already  enshrined  as  an  idol?" 

"You  take  the  matter  too  seriously  to  heart,  Grounsell," 
said  Sir  Stafford,  smiling. 

"Not  a  bit  of  it;  I  've  studied  symptoms  too  long  and  too 
carefully  not  to  be  ever  on  the  look-out  for  results.  To 
Lady  Hester,  this  visit  is  a  little  episode  as  easily  forgotten 
as  any  chance  incident  of  the  journey.  But  what  an  event 
is  it  in  the  simple  story  of  their  lives!  " 

"Well,  well,  it  cannot  be  helped  now;  the  thing  is  done, 
and  there  's  an  end  of  it,"  said  Sir  Stafford,  pettishly;  "and 
I  confess  I  cannot  see  the  matter  as  you  do,  for  I  have  been 
thinking  for  two  days  back  about  these  Daltons,  and  of 
some  mode  of  being  of  service  to  them,  and  this  very 
accident  may  suggest  the  way.     I  have  been  looking  over 


A  FAMILY  DISCUSSION.  101 

some  old  letters  and  papers,  and  I  've  no  doubt  that  1  have 
bad  —  unintentionally,  of  course  —  a  share  in  the  poor  fel- 
low's ruin.  Do  you  know,  Grounsell,  that  this  is  the 
very  same  Peter  Dalton  who  once  wrote  to  me  the  most 
insulting  letters,  and  even  a  defiance  to  fight  a  duel, 
because  a  distant  relative  bequeathed  to  me  a  certain  estate 
that  more  naturally  should  have  descended  to  him.  At  first, 
I  treated  the  epistles  as  unworthy  of  any  serious  attention, 
—  they  were  scarcely  intelligible,  and  not  distinguished  by 
anything  like  a  show  of  reason;  but  when  from  insult  the 
writer  proceeded  to  menace,  I  mentioned  the  affair  to  my 
lawyer,  and,  indeed,  gave  him  permission  to  take  any  steps 
that  might  be  necessary  to  rid  me  of  so  unpleasant  a  coire- 
spondent.  I  never  heard  more  of  the  matter;  but  now,  on 
looking  over  some  papers,  I  see  that  the  case  went  hardly 
with  Dalton,  for  there  was  a  '  rule  to  show  cause, '  and  an 
'  attachment, '  and  I  don't  know  what  besides,  obtained 
against  him  from  the  King's  Bench,  and  he  was  actually 
imprisoned  eight  months  for  this  very  business;  so  that, 
besides  having  succeeded  to  this  poor  fellow's  property,  I 
have  also  deprived  him  of  his  liberty.  Quite  enough  of 
hardship  to  have  suffered  at  the  hands  of  any  one  man  — 
and  that  one,  not  an  enemy." 

"And  would  you  believe  it,  Onslow,  we  have  talked  over 
you  and  your  affairs  a  hundred  times  together,  and  yet  he 
has  never  even  alluded  to  this  ?  One  would  think  that  such 
an  event  would  make  an  impression  upon  most  men ;  but, 
assuredly,  he  is  either  the  most  forgetful  or  the  most  gen- 
erous fellow  on  earth." 

"How  very  strange!  And  so  you  tell  me  that  he  remem- 
bers my  name,  and  all  the  circumstances  of  that  singular 
bequest  —  for  singular  it  was  —  from  a  man  whom  I  never 
saw  since  he  was  a  boy." 

"He  remembers  it  all.  It  was  the  last  blow  fortune  dealt 
him,  and,  indeed,  he  seemed  scarcely  to  require  so  heavy  a 
stroke  to  fell  him,  for,  by  his  own  account,  he  had  been 
struggling  on,  in  debt  and  difl3culty,  for  many  a  year, 
putting  off  creditors  by  the  plausible  plea  that  a  consider- 
able estate  must  eventually  fall  in  to  him.  It  is  quite  cer- 
tain that  he  believed  this  himself,  but  he  also  maintained  a 


102  THE  DALTONS. 

course  of  expenditure  that,  were  he  even  in  possession  of 
the  property,  it  would  have  been  impossible  to  keep  up. 
His  brother-in-law's  parsimony,  too,  was  a  constant  source 
of  self-gratulation  to  him,  fancying,  as  he  did,  that  a  consid- 
erable sum  in  Bank  stock  would  be  among  the  benefits  of 
this  bequest.  To  find  himself  cut  off,  without  even  a  men- 
tion of  his  name,  was,  then,  to  know  that  he  was  utterly, 
irretrievably  ruined." 

"Poor  fellow!"  exclaimed  Onslow;  "I  never  suspected 
the  case  had  been  so  hard  a  one.  His  letters  —  you  shall  see 
them  yourself  —  bore  all  the  evidence  of  a  man  more  touchy 
on  the  score  of  a  point  of  honor  than  mindful  of  a  mere 
money  matter.  He  seemed  desirous  of  imputing  to  me  — 
who,  as  I  have  told  you,  never  saw  Mr.  Godfrey  for  above 
forty  years  —  something  like  undue  influence,  and,  in  fact, 
of  having  prejudiced  his  brother-in-law  against  him.  He 
dated  his  angry  epistles  from  a  park  or  a  castle  —  I  forget 
which  —  and  they  bore  a  seal  of  armorial  pretensions  such 
as  an  archduke  might  acknowledge.  All  these  signs  seemed 
to  me  so  indicative  of  fortune  and  standing,  that  I  set  my 
friend  down  for  a  very  bloodthirsty  Irishman,  but  assuredly 
never  imagined  that  poverty  had  contributed  its  sting  to 
the  injury." 

"I  can  easily  conceive  all  that,"  said  Grounsell.  "At 
this  very  moment,  with  want  staring  him  on  every  side, 
he  'd  rather  talk  of  his  former  style  at  —  confound  the  bar- 
barous place,  I  never  can  remember  the  name  of  it  —  than 
he  'd  listen  to  any  suggestion  for  the  future  benefit  of  his 
children." 

"I  have  been  a  grievous  enemy  to  him,"  said  Sir 
Stafford,  musingly. 

"He  reckons  the  loss  at  something  like  six  thousand  a 
year,"  said  Grounsell. 

"Not  the  half  of  it,  doctor;  the  estate,  when  I  suc- 
ceeded to  it,  was  in  a  ruinous  condition.  A  pauper  and 
rebellious  tenantry  holding  their  tenures  on  nominal  rents, 
and  either  living  in  open  defiance  of  all  law,  or  scheming  to 
evade  it  by  a  hundred  subterfuges.  Matters  are  somewhat 
better;  but  if  so,  it  has  cost  me  largely  to  make  them  so. 
Disabuse  his  mind,  I  beg  you,  of  this  eiTor.  His  loss  was 
at  least  not  so  heavy  as  he  reckoned." 


A  FAMILY  DISCUSSION.  108 

"Faith,  I'll  scarcely  venture  on  so  very  delicate  a 
theme,"  said  Grounsell,  dryly.  "I  'm  not  quite  so  sure 
how  he  *d  take  it." 

"I  see,  doctor,"  said  Onslow,  laughing,  "that  his  duel- 
ling tastes  have  impressed  you  with  a  proper  degree  of 
respect.  Well,  let  us  think  of  something  more  to  the  pur- 
pose than  rectifying  a  mere  mistaken  opinion.  How  can  we 
serve  him  ?     What  can  be  done  for  him  ?  " 

"Ruined  gentlemen,  like  second-hand  uniforms,  are  gen- 
erally sent  to  the  colonies,"  said  Grounsell;  "but  Dalton  is 
scarcely  fit  for  export." 

"What  if  we  could  get  him  appointed  a  magistrate  in  one 
of  the  West  India  Islands?  " 

"New  rum  would  finish  him  the  first  rainy  season." 

"Is  he  fit  for  a  consulship?  " 

"About  as  much  as  for  Lord  Chancellor.  I  tell  you  the 
man's  pride  would  revolt  at  anything  to  which  a  duty  was 
annexed.  Whatever  you  decide  on  must  be  untrammelled 
by  any  condition  of  this  kind." 

"  An  annuity,  then,  —  some  moderate  sum  sufficient  to 
support  them  in  respectability,"  said  Onslow;  "that  is  the 
only  thing  I  see  for  it,  and  I  am  quite  ready  to  do  my 
part,  which,  indeed,  is  full  as  much  a  matter  of  honor  as 
generosity." 

"How  will  you  induce  him  to  accept  it?  " 

"We  can  manage  that,  I  fancy,  with  a  little  contrivance. 
I  '11  consult  Prichard ;  he  's  coming  here  this  very  day  about 
these  renewals,  and  he  '11  find  a  way  of  doing  it." 

"You'll  have  need  of  great  caution,"  said  Grounsell; 
"without  being  naturally  suspicious,  misfortune  has  ren- 
dered him  very  sensitive  as  to  anything  like  a  slight.  To 
this  hour  he  is  ignorant  that  his  daughter  sells  those  little 
figures;  and  although  he  sees,  in  a  hundred  appliances  to 
his  comfort,  signs  of  resources  of  which  he  knows  nothing, 
he  never  troubles  his  head  how  the  money  comes." 

"What  a  strange  character!  " 

"Strange  indeed.  True  pride  and  false  pride,  manly 
patience,  childish  petulance,  generosity,  selfishness,  liber- 
ality, meanness,  even  to  the  spirits  alternating  between 
boy-like  levity  and  downright  despair!     The  whole  is  such 


104  THE  DALTONS. 

a  mixture  as  I  never  saw  before,  and  yet  I  can  fancy  it  is  as 
much  the  national  temperament  as  that  of  the  individual." 

And  now  Grounsell,  launched  upon  a  sea  without  compass 
or  chart,  hurried  off  to  lose  himself  in  vague  speculation 
about  questions  that  have  puzzled,  and  are  puzzling,  wiser 
heads  than  his. 


CHAPTER  XL 

"a  peep  between  the  shutters"  at  a  new  character. 

Not  even  Mademoiselle  Celestine  herself,  nor  the  two  Lon- 
don footmen  now  condemned  to  exhibit  their  splendid  pro- 
portions to  the  untutored  gaze  of  German  rustics,  could  have 
chafed  and  fretted  under  the  unhappy  detention  at  Baden 
with  a  greater  impatience  than  did  George  Onslow,  —  a 
young  Guardsman,  who  often  fancied  that  London,  out  of 
season,  was  a  species  of  Palmyra;  who  lived  but  for  the 
life  that  only  one  capital  affords ;  who  could  not  credit  the 
fact  that  people  could  ride,  dress,  dine,  and  drive  anywhere 
else,  was  lamentably  "  ill  bestowed  "  among  the  hills  and 
valleys,  the  winding  glens  and  dense  pine  forests  of  a  little 
corner  of  Germany. 

If  he  liked  the  excitement  of  hard  exercise,  it  was  when 
the  pleasure  was  combined  with  somewhat  of  peril,  as  in  a 
fox-hunt,  or  heightened  by  the  animation  of  a  contest,  in  a 
rowing-match.  Scenery,  too,  he  cared  for,  when  it  came 
among  the  incidents  of  a  deer-stalking  day  in  the  Highlands. 
Even  walking,  if  it  were  a  match  against  time,  was  posi- 
tively not  distasteful ;  but  to  ride,  walk,  row,  or  exert  him- 
self, for  the  mere  exercise,  was  in  his  philosophy  only  a 
degree  better  than  a  sentence  to  the  treadmill,  the  slavery 
being  voluntary  not  serving  to  exalt  the  motive. 

To  a  mind  thus  constituted,  the  delay  at  Baden  was  intol- 
erable. Lady  Hester's  system  of  small  irritations  and  pro- 
vocations rendered  domesticity  and  home  life  out  of  the 
question.  She  was  never  much  given  to  reading  at  any 
time,  and  now  books  were  not  to  be  had ;  Sydney  was  so 
taken  up  with  studying  German,  that  she  was  quite  un- 
companionable. Her  father  was  too  weak  to  bear  much 
conversation;  and  as  for  Grounsell,  George  always  set  him 
down  for  a  quiz :  good-hearted  in  his  way,  but  a  bit  of  a 


106  THE   DALTONS. 

bore,  and  too  fond  of  old  stories.  Had  he  been  a  young 
lady,  in  such  a  predicament,  he  would  have  kept  a  journal, 
a  pretty  martyrology  of  himself  and  his  feelings,  and  eked 
out  his  sorrows  between  Childe  Harold  and  Werther.  Had 
he  been  an  elderly  one,  he  would  have  written  folios  by  the 
post,  and  covered  acres  of  canvas  with  dogs  in  worsted, 
and  tigers  in  Berlin  wool.  Alas !  he  had  no  such  resources. 
Education  had  supplied  him  with  but  one  comfort  and  con- 
solation,—  a  cigar;  and  so  he  smoked  away  incessantly: 
sometimes  as  he  lounged  out  of  the  window,  after  break- 
fast, in  all  the  glory  of  an  embroidered  velvet  cap,  and  a 
gorgeous  dressing-gown;  sometimes  as  he  sauntered  in  the 
empty  saloon,  or  the  deserted  corridors,  in  the  weed-grown 
garden,  in  the  dishabille  of  a  many-pocketed  shooting- 
jacket  and  cork-soled  shoes ;  now,  as  he  lounged  along  the 
dreary  streets,  or  passed  along  the  little  wooden  bridge, 
wondering  within  himself  how  much  longer  a  man  could 
resist  the  temptation  that  suggested  a  spring  over  the  balus- 
trade into  the  dark  pool  beneath. 

He  had  come  abroad  partly  for  Sydney's  sake,  partly 
because,  having  "gone  somewhat  too  fast "  in  town,  an 
absence  had  become  advisable.  But  now,  as  he  sauntered 
about  the  deserted  streets  of  the  little  village,  not  knowing 
how  long  the  durance  might  last,  without  an  occupation, 
without  a  resource,  both  his  brotherly  love  and  prudence 
began  to  fail  him,  and  he  wished  he  had  remained  behind, 
and  taken  the  chances,  whatever  they  might  be,  of  his 
creditors'  forbearance.  His  moneyed  embarrassments 
involved  nothing  dishonorable;  he  had  done  no  more  than 
what  some  score  of  very  well-principled  young  men  have 
done,  and  are  doing  at  this  very  hour, — ay,  good  reader, 
and  will  do  again,  when  you  and  I  have  gone  where  all 
our  moralizing  will  not  deceive  any  more,  —  he  had  con- 
tracted debts,  the  payment  of  which  must  depend  upon 
others ;  he  had  borrowed  what  no  efforts  of  his  own  could 
restore;  he  had  gambled,  and  lost  sums  totally  dispropor- 
tionate to  his  fortune;  but,  in  all  these  things,  he  was  still 
within  the  pale  of  honorable  conduct,  —  at  least,  so  said  the 
code  under  which  he  lived,  and  George  believed  it. 

Sir  Stafford,  who  only  learned  about  the  half  of  his  son's 


A  PEEP  BETWEEN  THE   SHUTTERS."  107 

liabilities,  was  thunderstruck  at  the  amount.  It  was 
scarcely  a  year  and  a  half  ago  that  he  had  paid  all  George's 
debts,  and  they  were  then  no  trifle;  and  now  he  saw  all  the 
old  items  revived  and  magnified,  as  if  there  was  only  one 
beaten  road  to  ruin, —  and  that  began  at  Ci'ocky's,  and  ended 
at  "the  Bench."  The  very  names  of  the  dramatis  personce 
were  the  same.  It  was  Lazarus  Levi  lent  the  money,  at 
sixty  per  cent;  it  was  another  patriarch,  called  Gideon 
Masham,  discounted  the  same.  A  lucky  viscount  had  once 
more  "done  the  trick"  at  hazard;  and  if  Cribbiter  had  not 
broken  down  in  training,  why  Madame  Pompadour  had, 
and  so  the  same  result  came  about.  George  Onslow  had 
got  what  Newmarket  men  call  a  "squeeze,"  and  was  in  for 
about  seven  thousand  pounds. 

Nothing  is  more  remarkable  in  our  English  code  social, 
than  the  ingenuity  with  which  we  have  contrived  to  divide 
ranks  and  classes  of  men,  making  distinctions  so  subtle 
that  only  long  habit  and  training  are  able  to  appreciate. 
Not  alone  are  the  gradations  of  our  nobility  accurately 
defined,  but  the  same  distinctions  prevail  among  the 
"untitled  "  classes,  and  even  descend  to  the  professional  and 
trading  ranks;  so  that  the  dealer  in  one  commodity  shall 
take  the  pas  of  another;  and  he  who  purveys  the  glass  of 
port  for  your  dessert,  would  be  outraged  if  classed  with 
him  who  contributed  the  Stilton!  These  hair-splittings  are 
very  unintelligible  to  foreigners;  but,  as  we  hold  to  them, 
the  presumption  is,  that  they  suit  us ;  and  I  should  not  have 
stopped  now  to  bestow  a  passing  notice  on  the  system,  if  it 
were  not  that  we  see  it,  in  some  cases,  pushed  to  a  degree 
of  extreme  resembling  absurdity,  making  even  of  the  same 
career  in  life  a  sliding-scale  of  respectability;  as,  for 
instance,  when  a  young  gentleman  of  good  expectations 
and  fair  fortune  has  outraged  his  guardians  and  his  friends 
by  extravagance,  he  is  immediately  removed  from  the 
Guards,  and  drafted  into  the  Infantry  of  the  Line;  if  he 
misbehaves  there,  they  usually  send  him  to  India;  is  he 
incorrigible,  he  is  compelled  to  remain  in  some  regiment 
there;  or,  in  cases  of  inveterate  bad  habits,  he  exchanges 
into  the  Cape  Rifles,  and  gets  his  next  removal  from  the 
knife  of  a  Caffre. 


108  THE  DALTONS. 

Ancient  geographers  have  decided,  we  are  not  aware  on 
what  grounds,  that  there  is  a  place  between  "H — 11  and 
Connaught."  Modern  discovery,  with  more  certitude,  has 
shown  one  between  the  Guards  and  the  Line,  —  a  species  of 
military  purgatory,  where,  after  a  due  expiation  of  offences, 
the  sinner  may  return  to  the  paradise  of  the  Household 
Brigade  without  ever  transgressing  the  Inferno  of  a  march- 
ing regiment.  This  half-way  stage  is  the  "Rifles."  So 
long  as  a  young  fashionable  falls  no  lower,  he  is  safe. 
There  is  no  impugnment  of  his  character,  —  no  injury  that 
cannot  be  repaired.  Now,  George  Onslow  had  reached  so 
far;  he  was  compelled  to  exchange  into  the  — th,  then 
quartered  in  Ireland.  It  is  true  he  did  not  join  his  regi- 
ment; his  father  had  interest  enough  somewhere  to  obtain  a 
leave  of  absence  for  his  son,  and  First  Lieutenant  Onslow, 
vice  Ridgway  promoted,  was  suffered  to  amuse  himself  how- 
soever and  wheresoever  he  pleased. 

The  "exchange,"  and  the  reasons  for  which  it  was 
effected,  were  both  unpleasant  subjects  of  reflection  to 
George;  and  as  he  had  few  others,  these  continued  to 
haunt  him,  till  at  last  he  fancied  that  every  one  was  full  of 
the  circumstance,  each  muttering  as  he  passed,  "That 's 
Onslow,  that  was  in  the  Coldstreams."  Lady  Hester, 
indeed,  did  not  always  leave  the  matter  purely  imaginary, 
but  threw  out  occasional  hints  about  soldiers  who  never 
served,  except  at  St.  James's  or  Windsor,  and  who  were 
kept  for  the  wonderment  and  admiration  of  foreign  sover- 
eigns when  visiting  England,  —  just  as  Suffolk  breeders 
exhibit  a  "punch,"  or  a  Berkshire  farmer  will  show  a  hog, 
for  the  delectation  of  swine  fanciers.  Where  children  show 
toys,  kings  show  soldiers,  and  ours  are  considered  very 
creditable  productions  of  the  kind;  but  Lady  Hester 
averred,  with  more  of  truth  than  she  believed,  that  a  man 
of  spirit  would  prefer  a  somewhat  different  career.  These 
currents,  coming  as  they  did  in  season  and  out  of  season, 
did  not  add  to  the  inducements  for  keeping  the  house,  and 
so  George  usually  left  home  each  day,  and  rarely  returned 
to  it  before  nightfall. 

It  is  true  he  might  have  associated  with  Haggerstone, 
who,  on  being  introduced,  made  the  most  courteous  advances 


"A  PEEP  BETWEEN  THE  SHUTTERS."  109 

to  his  intimacy;  but  George  Onslow  was  bred  in  a  school 
whose  first  lesson  is  a  sensitive  shrinking  from  acquaintance, 
and  whose  chief  characteristic  is  distrust.  Now  he  either 
had  heard,  or  fancied  he  had  heard,  something  about  Hag- 
gerstone.  "The  Colonel  was  n't  all  right,"  somehow  or 
other.  There  was  a  story  about  him,  or  somebody  of  his 
set,  and,  in  fact,  it  was  as  well  to  be  cautious;  and  so  the 
young  Guardsman,  who  would  have  ventured  his  neck  in  a 
steeplechase,  or  his  fortune  on  a  "Derby,"  exhibited  all  the 
deliberative  wisdom  of  a  judge  as  to  the  formation  of  a 
passing  acquaintance. 

If  we  have  been  somewhat  prolix  in  explaining  the  reasons 
of  the  young  gentleman's  solitude,  our  excuse  is,  that  he  had 
thereby  conveyed,  not  alone  all  that  we  know,  but  all  that 
is  necessary  to  be  known,  of  his  character.  He  was  one  of 
a  class  so  large  in  the  world  that  few  people  could  not  count 
some  half-dozen,  at  least,  similar  amongst  their  acquaint- 
ance; and  all  of  whom  would  be  currently  set  down  as 
incapables,  if  it  were  not  that  now  and  then,  every  ten  years 
or  so,  one  of  these  well-looking,  well-bred,  indolent  dandies, 
as  if  tired  of  his  own  weariness,  turns  out  to  be  either  a 
dashing  soldier,  with  a  heart  to  dare,  and  a  head  to  devise 
the  boldest  achievements,  or  a  politic  leader,  with  resources 
of  knowledge,  and  a  skill  in  debate,  to  confront  the  most 
polished  and  practised  veteran  in  "the  Commons." 

Our  own  experiences  of  our  own  day  show  that  these  are 
no  paradoxical  speculations.  But  we  must  not  pursue  the 
theme  further;  and  have  only  to  add,  that  the  reader  is  not 
to  believe  that  George  Onslow  formed  one  of  these  brilliant 
exceptions.  Whether  the  fault  lies  more  in  himself  or  in 
us,  we  must  not  inquire. 

If  his  lonely  walks  did  not  suggest  any  pleasant  reveries, 
the  post  did  not  bring  any  more  agreeable  tidings.  Dry 
statements  from  Mr.  Orson,  his  lawyer,  —  every  young  man 
about  town  has  his  lawyer  nowadays,  — about  the  difficulty 
of  arranging  his  affairs,  being  the  chief  intelligence  he 
received,  with,  from  time  to  time,  a  short  and  pithy  epistle 
from  a  certain  noble  creditor,  Lord  Norwood,  who,  although 
having  won  very  large  sums  from  Onslow,  never  seemed  in 
such  pressing  difficulty  as  since  his  good  fortune. 


110  THE  DALTONS. 

The  viscount's  style  epistolary  was  neither  so  marked  by 
originality,  nor  so  worthy  of  imitation,  that  it  would  be 
worth  communicating;  but  as  one  of  his  letters  bears 
slightly  upon  the  interests  of  our  story,  we  are  induced  to 
give  it;  and  being,  like  all  his  correspondence,  very  brief, 
we  will  communicate  it  t?i  extenso. 

"  Oh,  Norwood  again !  "  said  Onslow,  as  he  looked  at 
the  seal,  and  read  the  not  very  legible  autograph  in  the 
corner.  "My  noble  friend  does  not  give  a  very  long 
respite;  "  and  biting  his  lips  in  some  impatience,  he  opened 
the  paper,  and  read :  — 


Dear  Onslow, — Orson. has  paid  me  the  two  thousand,  as  you 
ordered,  but  positively  refuses  the  seventeen  hundred  and  eighty, 
the  Ascot  affair,  because  I  cannot  give  up  the  original  two  bills  for 
twelve  hundred  passed  to  me  for  that  debt.  I  told  him  that  they 
were  thrown  into  the  fire  —  being  devilishly  tempted  to  illustrate  the 
process  with  himself  —  six  months  ago,  when  you  gave  the  renewals; 
but  all  won't  do,  the  old  prig  persists  in  his  demand,  to  comply  with 
which  is  clearly  impossible,  for  I  have  not  even  preserved  the 
precious  ashes  of  the  incremation.  I  don't  doubt  but  that,  legally 
speaking,  and  in  pettifogging  parlance,  he  is  all  correct  —  but  be- 
tween men  of  honor  such  strictness  is  downright  absurdity  —  and, 
as  Dillhurst  says,  "  something  more."  Now,  my  dear  boy,  you  must 
write  to  him  —  and  at  once,  too  —  for  I  'm  in  a  bad  book  about 
"  Chanticleer  "  —  who  is  to  win,  it  seems,  after  all  —  and  say  that  he 
is  acting  in  direct  opposition  to  your  wishes,  as  of  course  he  is  ;  that 
the  money  must  be  paid  without  more  chaffing.  The  delay  has 
already  put  me  to  great  inconvenience,  and  I  know  how  you  will  be 
provoked  at  his  obstinacy.  You  've  heard,  I  suppose,  that  Brent- 
wood is  going  to  marry  Lydia  Vaughan.  She  has  thirty  thousand 
pounds,  which  is  exactly  what  Jack  lost  last  winter.  Crosbie  says 
he  ought  to  "  run  away  from  her  —  after  the  start  —  as  he  carries  no 
weight :  "  which  is  somewhat  of  my  own  opinion.  What  any  man 
has  to  do  with  a  wife  nowadays,  with  the  funds  at  eighty-two,  and  a 
dark  horse  first  favorite  for  the  Oaks,  is  more  than  I  know.  Don- 
caster  has  levanted,  and  the  Red-House  folk  will  smart  for  it.  He 
would  back  Hayes's  lot,  and  there  's  nothing  can  ever  set  him  right 
again.  By  the  way,  Orson  hints  that  if  I  give  him  a  release,  or 
something  of  that  sort,  with  respect  to  the  bills,  he  'd  pay  the  cash; 
but  this  is  only  a  dodge  to  make  a  case  for  lawyers'  parchments, 
stamps,  and  so  forth ;  so  I  won't  stand  it.  Your  writing  to  him  will 
do  the  whole  thing  at  once.     What  a  jolly  world  it  would  be,  old 


"A  PEEP  BETWEEN  THE   SHUTTERS."  Ill 

fellow,  if  the  whole  race  of  Orsons  were  carried  ofif  by  the  cholera, 
or  anything  akin !  They  are  the  greatest  enemies  to  human  peace 
in  existence. 

Believe  me,  yours  most  faithfully, 

Norwood. 

P.  S.  I  half  fancy  Baden  is  empty  by  this;  but  if  you  chance 
upon  a  little  fellow  —  Heaven  knows  to  whom  he  belongs,  or  whence 
he  come»  —  called  Albert  Jekyl,  will  you  tell  him  that  I  '11  forward 
the  twenty  pounds  whenever  I  win  the  Oaks,  or  marry  Miss  Home 
Greville,  or  any  other  similar  piece  of  good  fortune.  When  he  lent 
me  the  cash,  I  don't  believe  he  was  the  owner  of  as  much  more  in 
the  world;  but  it  suited  him  to  have  a  viscount  in  his  debt  —  a 
devilish  bad  investment,  if  he  knew  but  all.  The  chances,  therefore, 
are  that  he  has  foundered  long  ago,  and  you  will  be  spared  the 
trouble  of  the  explanation ;  but  if  he  survive,  say  something  apolo- 
getic, for  letter-writing  and  foreign  postage  are  only  making  bad 
worse. 

Although,  unquestionably,  the  postscript  of  this  elegant 
epistle  was  the  part  which  reflected  most  severely  upon  the 
writer's  good  feeling  and  sense  of  honor,  George  Onslow 
was  more  struck  by  what  related  to  his  own  affairs,  nor 
was  it  till  after  the  lapse  of  some  days  that  he  took  the 
trouble  of  considering  the  paragraph,  or  learning  the  name 
of  the  individual  referred  to.  Even  then  all  that  he  could 
remember  was,  that  he  had  seen  or  heard  the  name  "  some- 
where," and  thus,  very  possibly,  the  whole  matter  would 
have  glided  from  his  memory,  if  accident  had  not  brought 
up  the  recollection. 

Returning  one  evening  later  than  usual  from  his  solitary 
walk,  he  found  that  the  hotel  was  closed,  the  door  strongly 
secured,  and  all  the  usual  precautions  of  the  night  taken,  in 
the  belief  that  the  inmates  were  already  safe  within  doors. 
In  vain  he  knocked  and  thundered  at  the  massive  panels; 
the  few  servants  occupied  rooms  at  a  distance,  and  heard 
nothing  of  the  uproar.  He  shouted,  he  screamed,  he  threw 
gravel  against  the  windows,  and,  in  his  zeal,  smashed  them 
too.  All  was  fruitless;  nobody  stirred,  nor  could  he  de- 
tect the  slightest  sign  of  human  presence  in  the  vast  and 
dreary-looking  building  before  him.  The  prospect  was  not 
a  pleasant  one,  and  a  December  night  in  the  open  air  was  by 


112  THE  DALTONS. 

no  means  desirable;  and  yet,  where  should  he  turn  for 
shelter?  The  other  hotels  were  all  closed  and  deserted, 
and  even  of  the  private  houses  not  one  in  twenty  was  in- 
habited. Resolving  to  give  himself  one  chance  more  for 
admission,  he  scaled  the  paling  of  the  garden,  and  reached 
the  rear  of  the  hotel ;  but  here  all  his  efforts  proved  just  as 
profitless  as  the  former,  and  he  was  at  last  about  to  aban- 
don all  hope,  when  he  caught  sight  of  a  faint  gleam  of  light 
issuing  from  a  small  window  on  the  first  floor.  Having 
failed  to  attract  notice  by  all  his  cries  and  shouts,  he  deter- 
mined to  reach  the  window,  to  which,  fortunately,  a  large 
vine,  attached  to  the  wall,  offered  an  easy  access.  George 
was  an  expert  climber,  and  in  less  than  a  minute  found 
himself  seated  on  the  window-sill,  and  gazing  into  a  room 
by  the  aperture  between  the  half-closed  shutters.  His  first 
impression  on  looking  in  was  that  it  was  a  servant's  room. 
The  bare,  whitewashed  walls ;  the  humble,  uncurtained  bed ; 
three  chairs  of  coarse  wood,  —  all  strengthened  this  sus- 
picion, even  to  the  table,  covered  by  a  coarse  table-cloth, 
and  on  which  stood  a  meal  —  if  meal  it  could  be  called  —  an 
anchorite  might  have  eaten  on  Friday.  A  plate  of  the  com- 
mon brown  bread  of  the  country  was  balanced  by  a  little 
dish  of  radishes,  next  to  which  stood  a  most  diminutive 
piece  of  Baden  cheese,  and  a  capacious  decanter  of  water, 
a  long-wicked  tallow  candle  throwing  its  gloomy  gleam  over 
the  whole.  For  a  moment  or  two  George  was  unable  to 
detect  the  owner  of  this  simple  repast,  as  he  was  engaged  in 
replenishing  his  fire ;  but  he  speedily  returned,  and  took  his 
place  at  the  table,  spreading  his  napkin  before  him,  and 
surveying  the  board  with  an  air  of  self-satisfaction  such  as 
a  gourmand  might  bestow  upon  the  most  perfect  petit  dtner. 
In  dress,  air,  and  look,  he  was  thoroughly  gentlemanlike ; 
a  little  foppish,  perhaps,  in  the  arrangement  of  his  hair,  and 
somewhat  too  much  display  in  the  jewelled  ornaments  that 
studded  his  neckcloth.  Even  in  his  attitude,  as  he  sat  at 
the  table,  there  was  a  certain  air  of  studied  elegance  that 
formed  a  curious  contrast  with  the  miserable  meal  before 
him.  Helping  himself  to  a  small  portion  of  cheese,  and 
filling  out  a  goblet  of  that  element  which  neither  cheers  nor 
inebriates,  he  proceeded  to  eat  his  supper.     Onslow  looked 


"A  PEEP  BETWEEN  THE   SHUTTERS." 


113 


on  with  a  mingled  sense  of  wonder  and  ridicule,  and  while 
half  disposed  to  laugh  at  the  disparity  of  the  entertainment 
and  him  who  partook  of  it,  there  was  something  in  the  scene 
which  repressed  his  8C€>rn  and  rendered  him  even  an  inter- 


ested spectator  of  what  went  forward.  The  piercing  cold 
of  the  night  at  length  admonished  him  that  he  should  pro- 
vide for  his  own  admission  into  the  hotel ;  and  although 
nothing  was  now  easier  than  to  make  his  presence  known, 
yet  he  felt  a  natural  reluctance  at  the  pain  he  must  occasion 
to  the  stranger,  whose  frugal  mode  of  living  and  humble 
interior  would  be  thus  so  unceremoniously  exposed.  "The 
chances  are,"  thought  George,   "  that  these   privations  are 

VOL.  I.  —  8 


114  THE  DALTONS. 

only  endurable  because  they  are  practised  in  secret,  and  at 
no  sacrifice  of  worldly  estimation.  How  can  I  then  —  or 
what  right  have  I  to  —  inflict  the  torture  of  an  exposure 
upon  this  young  man,  whoever  he  isi"  The  conclusion  was 
very  rapidly  come  to,  and  not  less  speedily  acted  upon ;  for 
he  determined  to  spend  the  night,  if  need  be,  in  the  open 
air,  rather  than  accept  an  alternative  so  painful  in  its  con- 
sequences. His  resolutions  had  usually  not  long  to  await 
their  accomplishment ;  and,  turning  his  back  to  the  window, 
and  disdaining  the  slow  process  by  which  he  had  gained  the 
ascent,  he  sprang  with  one  leap  down  to  the  ground :  in 
doing  so,  however,  his  elbow  struck  the  window,  and  at  the 
same  instant  that  he  reached  the  earth,  the  shivered  frag- 
ments of  a  pane  of  glass  came  clattering  after  him.  In  a 
moment  the  sash  was  thrown  open,  and  a  head  appeared 
above.  "  I  have  smashed  the  window,"  cried  George,  in 
French,  "as  the  only  means  of  being  heard.  They  have 
locked  me  out  of  the  hotel,  and  I  don't  fanc}'  spending  a 
winter's  night  in  walking  the  streets  of  Baden." 

"  You're  an  Englishman,"  said  the  voice  from  above,  in 
English. 

"Yes;  but  I  don't  see  what  that  has  to  do  with  the 
matter,"  replied  Onslow,  testily;  "even  a  Laplander  might 
prefer  shelter  in  such  a  season." 

"  If  you  '11  have  the  goodness  to  come  round  to  the  front 
door,"  said  the  voice,  —  one  of  the  very  softest  and  meekest 
of  voices,  —  "I  shall  have  great  pleasure  in  opening  it  for 
you."  And  at  the  same  time  the  unknown  held  forth  his 
candle  in  polite  guidance  to  the  other's  steps. 

"Thanks,  thanks;  never  mind  the  light.  I  know  the 
way  perfectly,"  said  George,  not  a  little  ashamed  at  the  con- 
trast between  his  own  gruffness  and  the  courtesy  of  the 
stranger  whose  window  he  had  broken. 

Onslow  had  barel}'  time  to  reach  the  front  door  of  the  inn, 
when  it  was  opened  for  him,  and  he  saw  before  him  a  very 
dapper  little  figure,  who  with  a  profusion  of  regrets  at  not 
having  heard  him  before,  offered  his  candle  —  a  wax  one  on 
this  occasion  —  for  George's  accommodation.  Protesting 
that  the  broken  pane  was  not  of  the  slightest  inconvenience, 
that  the  room  was  a  small  dressing-closet,  that  it  was  not 


"A   PEEP  BETWEEN  THE   SHUTTERS."  115 

worth  a  moment's  thought,  and  so  forth,  he  permitted 
Onslow  to  escort  him  to  the  door  of  his  room,  and  then 
wished  him  a  good-night.  The  scene  scarcely  occupied  the 
time  we  have  taken  to  relate  it,  and  yet  in  that  very  short 
space  George  Onslow  had  opportunity  to  see  that  the 
unknown  had  all  the  easy  deportment  and  quiet  breeding  of 
one  accustomed  to  good  society.  There  was,  perhaps,  a 
little  excess  of  courtesy,  at  least  according  to  that  school  of 
politeness  in  which  Onslow  had  been  taught ;  but  this  might 
be  the  effect  of  living  abroad,  where  such  a  tone  usually 
prevailed.  The  urbanity  was  not  exactly  cold  enough  for 
George's  notions.  "  No  matter ;  he  's  no  snob,  that 's  clear," 
thought  he;  "  and  even  if  he  were,  he's  done  me  good  ser- 
vice." And  with  this  blending  of  selfishness  and  speculation 
he  went  to  sleep,  and  slept  soundly,  too,  not  harassed  by 
even  a  thought  of  him  who  passed  an  hour  in  the  effort  to 
repair  his  broken  window,  and  shivered  the  rest  of  the  night 
through  from  the  insufficiency  of  his  skill. 

Blessed  immunity  theirs,  who  so  easily  forget  the  pain 
they  occasion  others,  and  who  deem  all  things  trifles  that 
cost  themselves  no  afterthought  of  regret.  Happy  the 
nature  that  can,  without  self-repining,  spill  the  wine  over 
Aunt  Betty's  one  "peach-colored  satin,"  or,  in  careless 
mood,  pluck  the  solitary  flower  of  her  only  geranium.  Envi- 
able stoicism  that  mislays  the  keepsake  of  some  poor  widow, 
or  lames  the  old  curate's  cob,  the  fond  companion  of  many 
rambles.  These,  whatever  others  think,  are  very  enviable 
traits,  and  enable  the  possessors  to  wear  placid  countenances, 
and  talk  in  most  meritorious  strain  on  the  blessings  of  equa- 
nimity and  the  excellent  fruits  of  a  well-trained  mind. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

MR.    ALBERT    JEKYL. 

Onslow's  first  thought,  on  awaking  the  next  morning,  was  of 
last  night's  acquaintance,  but  all  the  information  he  could 
obtain  concerning  him  was  that  he  was  an  Englishman  who 
had  passed  the  summer  in  Baden,  and  during  the  season 
knew  and  was  known  by  every  one.  The  waiter  called  him, 
in  the  usual  formulary,  "a  very  nice  gentleman;"  and 
seemed  by  his  manner  to  infer  that  any  further  account  might 
be  had  by  —  paying  for  it.  Onslow,  if  he  even  understood 
the  hint,  was  not  the  man  to  avail  himself  of  it;  so  he 
simply  ordered  him  to  bring  the  hotel  book,  in  which  the 
names  of  all  travellers  are  inscribed,  and  at  once  discovered 
that  the  proprietor  of  the  humble  entresol^  No.  6,  was  a  Mr. 
Albert  Jekyl,  with  the  ordinary  qualification  attached  to 
him  of  "  Rentier  Anglais."  Searching  back  in  the  same 
instructive  volume,  he  found  that,  on  his  arrival  in  June, 
Mr.  Jekyl  had  occupied  a  small  apartment  on  the  first  floor, 
from  which  he  had  subsequently  removed  to  the  second ; 
thence  to  a  single  room  in  the  third  story,  and  finally  settled 
down  in  the  quiet  seclusion  of  the  small  chamber  where 
George  had  first  seen  him.  These  were  very  small  materials 
from  which  to  compile  a  history,  but  at  least  they  conveyed 
one  inference,  and  that  a  very  common  one,  —  that  the 
height  of  Mr.  Jekj^l's  fortune  and  that  of  his  dwelling 
observed  to  each  other  an  inverse  proportion,  and  that,  as 
his  means  went  down,  he  went  up.  If,  then,  no  very  valu- 
able contribution  to  the  gentleman's  history  was  contained 
here,  at  least  the  page  recorded  his  name ;  and  George,  re- 
opening Norwood's  letter,  satisfied  himself  that  this  was  the 
same  confiding  individual  who  had  intrusted  the  noble  vis- 
count with  a  loan  of  twenty  pounds.     George  now  remem- 


MR.   ALBERT  JEKYL.  117 

bered  to  have  seen  his  card  on  Lady  Hester's  table,  with 
inquiry  after  Sir  Stafford.  "Poor  fellow!"  thought  he; 
"  another  victim  of  '  trente-et-un.'  They  have  cleared  him 
out  at  the  tables,  and  he  is  either  ashamed  to  write  home,  or 
his  friends  have  refused  to  assist  him.  And  Norwood,  too 
—  the  heartlessness  of  putting  to  contribution  a  poor  young 
fellow  like  this !  "  Onslow  thought  worse  of  this  than  of 
fifty  other  sharp  things  of  the  noble  Lord's  doing,  and  of 
some  of  which  he  had  been  himself  the  victim. 

"I'll  call  upon  him  this  very  morning!"  said  George, 
half  aloud,  and  with  the  tone  and  air  of  a  man  who  feels 
he  has  said  a  very  generous  thing,  and  expressed  a  senti- 
ment that  he  is  well  aware  will  expose  him  to  a  certain 
amount  of  reprobation.  "Jekyl,  after  all,  is  a  right  good 
name.  Lady  Hester  said  something  about  Jekyls  that  she 
knew,  or  was  related  to.  Good  style  of  fellow  —  he  looked 
a  little  tigerish,  but  that  comes  of  the  Continent.  If  he  be 
really  presentable,  too,  my  Lady  will  be  glad  to  receive  him 
in  her  present  state  of  destitution.  Norwood's  ungracious 
message  was  a  bore,  to  be  sure,  but  then  he  need  not  deliver 
it  —  there  was  no  necessity  of  taking  trouble  to  be  disagree- 
able—  or,  better  again  —  far  better,"  thought  he,  and  he 
burst  out  laughing  at  the  happy  notion,  "  I  '11  misunderstand 
his  meaning,  and  pay  the  money.  An  excellent  thought ; 
for  as  I  am  about  to  book  up  a  heavy  sum  to  his  Lordship, 
it 's  only  deducting  twenty  pounds  and  handing  it  to  Jekyl, 
and  I  '11  be  sworn  he  wants  it  most  of  us  all." 

The  more  Onslow  reflected  on  it,  the  more  delighted  was 
he  with  this  admirable  device ;  and  it  is  but  fair  to  add,  that 
however  gratified  at  the  opportunity  of  doing  a  kindness,  he 
was  even  better  pleased  at  the  thought  of  how  their  acquaint- 
ance at  the  "  Grosvenor  "  and  the  "  Ultras  "  would  laugh  at 
the  "  sharp  viscount's  being  sold."  There  was  only  one  man 
of  all  Onslow's  set  on  whom  he  would  have  liked  to  practise 
this  jest,  and  that  man  was  Norwood.  Having  decided  upon 
this  plan,  he  next  thought  of  the  execution  of  it,  and  this  he 
determined  should  be  by  letter.  A  short  note,  conveying 
Norwood's  message  and  the  twenty  pounds,  would  save  all 
explanation,  and  spare  Jekyl  any  unpleasant  feeling  the 
discussion  of  a  private  circumstance  might  occasion. 


118  THE  DALTONS. 

Ouslow's  note  concluded  with  his  "  thanks  for  Mr.  Jekyl's 
kindness  on  the  preceding  evening,"  and  expressing  a  wish 
to  know  "  at  what  hour  Mr.  J.  would  receive  a  visit  from 
him." 

Within  a  very  few  minutes  after  the  billet  was  despatched, 
a  servant  announced  Mr.  Albert  Jekyl;  and  that  young 
gentleman,  in  the  glory  of  a  very  magnificent  brocade  dress- 
ing-gown, and  a  Greek  cap,  with  slippers  of  black  velvet 
embroidered  in  gold,  entered  the  room. 

Onslow,  himself  a  distinguished  member  of  that  modern 
school  of  dandyism  whose  pride  lies  in  studs  and  shirtplns, 
in  watch-chains,  rings,  and  jewelled  canes,  was  struck  by  the 
costly  elegance  of  his  visitor's  toilette.  The  opal  buttons  at 
his  wrists ;  the  single  diamond,  of  great  size  and  brilliancy, 
on  his  finger;  even  the  massive  amber  mouthpiece  of  the 
splendid  meerschaum  he  carried  in  his  hand,  were  all  evi- 
dences of  the  most  expensive  tastes.  "  Could  this  by  possi- 
bility be  the  man  he  had  seen  at  supper?  "  was  the  question 
he  at  once  asked  himself ;  but  there  was  no  time  to  discuss 
the  point,  as  Jekyl,  in  a  voice  almost  girlish  in  its  softness, 
said,  — 

"I  could  not  help  coming  at  once  to  thank  you,  Mr. 
Onslow,  for  your  polite  note,  and  say  how  gratified  I  feel 
at  making  your  acquaintance.  Maynard  often  spoke  of 
you  to  me ;  and  I  confess  I  was  twenty  times  a  day 
tempted  to  introduce  myself." 

"  Maynard  —  Sir  Horace  Maynard  !  "  cried  Onslow,  with 
a  slight  flush,  half  pleasure,  half  surprise,  for  the  baronet 
was  the  leader  of  the  set  George  belonged  to,  —  a  man  of 
great  fortune,  ancient  family,  the  most  successful  on  the 
English  Turf,  and  the  envy  of  every  young  fellow  about 
town.     "  Do  you  know  Maynard?  " 

"Oh,  very  well  indeed,"  lisped  Jekyl;  "and  like  him 
much." 

Onslow  could  not  help  a  stare  at  the  man  who,  with  per- 
fect coolness  and  such  an  air  of  patronage,  professed  his 
opinion  of  the  most  distinguished  fashionable  of  the  day. 

"  He  has  a  very  pretty  taste  in  equipage,"  continued 
Jekyl,  "  but  never  could  attain  to  the  slightest  knowledge 
of  a  dinner." 


MR.   ALBERT  JEKYL.  119 

Onslow  was  thunderstruck.  Maynard,  whose  entertain- 
ments were  the  triumph  of  the  Clarendon,  thus  criticised 
by  the  man  he  had  seen  supping  like  a  mouse  on  a  morsel 
of  mouldy  cheese ! 

"Talking  of  dinners,  by  the  way,"  said  Jekyl,  "what 
became  of  Merewater  ?  " 

' '  Lord  Merewater  ?  —  he  was  in  waiting  when  we  left 
England." 

"  A  very  tidy  cook  he  used  to  have,  — a  Spaniard  called 
Jose,  —  a  perfect  hand  at  all  the  Provenqal  dishes.  Good 
creature,  Merewater.     Don't  you  think  so?" 

Onslow  muttered  a  kind  of  half-assent;  and  added,  "I 
don't  know  him."  Indeed,  the  lord  in  question  was  reputed 
as  insufferably  proud,  and  as  rarely  admitting  a  commoner 
to  the  honor  of  his  acquaintance. 

"  Poor  Merewater !  I  remember  playing  him  such  a  trick  : 
to  this  hour  he  does  not  know  who  did  it.  I  stole  the  meiiu 
of  one  of  his  grand  dinners,  and  gave  it  to  old  Lord  Bris- 
tock's  cook,  —  a  creature  that  might  have  made  the  messes 
for  an  emigrant  ship,  and  such  a  travesty  of  an  entertain- 
ment never  was  seen.  Merewater  affected  illness,  and  went 
away  from  the  table  firmly  persuaded  that  the  whole  was 
got  up  to  affront  him." 

"T  thought  the  Earl  of  Bristock  lived  well  and  hand- 
somely," said  George. 

"  Down  at  Brentwood  it  was  very  well  —  one  was  in  the 
country  —  and  grouse  and  woodcocks,  and  salmon  and 
pheasants,  came  all  naturally  and  seasonably ;  besides,  he 
really  had  some  very  remarkable  Burgundy ;  and,  though 
few  people  will  drink  it  nowadays,  Chambertin  is  a  Christ- 
mas wine." 

The  cheese  and  the  decanter  of  water  were  uppermost  in 
George's  mind,  but  he  said  nothing,  suffering  his  companion 
to  run  on,  which  he  did,  over  a  wide  expanse  of  titled  and 
distinguished  families,  with  all  of  whom  he  appeared  to  have 
lived  on  the  closest  terms  of  intimacy.  Certainly  of  those 
Onslow  himself  knew,  Jekyl  related  twenty  little  traits  and 
tokens  that  showed  he  was  speaking  with  true  knowledge  of 
the  parties.  Unlike  Haggerstone,  he  rarely,  if  ever,  alluded 
to  any  of  those  darker  topics  which  form  the  staple  of  scan- 


120  THE  DALTONS. 

dal.  A  very  gentle  ridicule  of  some  slight  eccentricity,  a 
passing  quiz  of  some  peculiarity  in  dress,  voice,  or  manner, 
was  about  the  extent  of  Jekyl's  criticism,  which  on  no  occa- 
sion betrayed  any  malice.  Even  the  oddities  that  he  por- 
trayed were  usually  done  by  some  passing  bit  of  mimicry  of 
the  individual  in  question.  These  he  threw  into  the  dialogue 
of  his  story  without  halt  or  impediment,  and  which,  being 
done  with  great  tact,  great  command  of  face,  and  a  most 
thorough  appreciation  of  humor,  were  very  amusing  little 
talents,  and  contributed  largely  to  his  social  success. 
Onslow  laughed  heartily  at  many  of  the  imitations,  and  thus 
recognized  characters  that  were  introduced  into  a  narrative 
without  the  trouble  of  announcing  them. 

"You've  heard,  perhaps,  the  series  of  mishaps  which 
compelled  us  to  take  refuge  here,"  said  George,  leading  the 
way  to  what  he  supposed  would  induce  an  equal  degree  of 
communicativeness  on  the  other  side. 

"  Oh !  yes,  the  landlord  told  me  of  your  disasters." 

"  After  all,  I  believe  the  very  worst  of  them  was  coming 
to  this  place  in  such  a  season." 

"It  is  certainly  seeing  it  en  papillate"  said  Jekyl, 
smiling;  "  and  you,  perhaps,  are  not  an  admirer  of  beauty 
unadorned." 

"Say,  rather,  of  Nature  at  her  ugliest;  for  whatever  it 
may  be  in  summer,  with  foliage,  and  clear  streams,  flowers, 
smart  folk  airing  and  driving  about,  equipage,  music,  move- 
ment, and  merry  voices,  now  it  is  really  too  dismal. 
Pray,  how  do  you  get  through  the  day  ?  " 

Jekyl  smiled  one  of  his  quiet,  equivocal  smiles,  and 
slightly  raised  his  shoulders  without  speaking. 

"Do  j'ou  shoot?" 

"No,"  said  he. 

"But  why  do  I  ask?  — there's  nothing  to  shoot.     You 

ride,  then  ?  " 

"No." 

"Cigars  will  do  a  great  deal;  but,  confound  it,  there 
must  be  a  large  share  of  the  day  very  heavy  on  your  hands, 
even  with  a  reasonable  allowance  for  reading  and  writing." 

"Seldom  do  either!"  said  Jekyl,  with  his  usual  imper- 
turbed  manner. 


MR.   ALBERT  JEKYL.  121 

"  You  have  n't  surely  got  up  a  flirtation  with  some  *  Frau- 
lein  with  yellow  hair '  ?  " 

"I  caunot  lay  claim  to  such  good  fortune.  I  really  do 
nothing.  I  have  not  even  the  usual  English  resource  of  a 
terrier  to  jump  over  my  stick,  nor  was  I  early  enough 
initiated  into  the  mystery  of  brandy-aud-water  —  in  fact, 
a  less  occupied  individual  cannot  well  be  imagined ;  but 
somehow  —  you'll  smile  if  I  say  —  I  am  not  bored." 

"It  would  be  very  ungenerous,  then,  to  conceal  your 
secret,"  cried  Onslow;  "  for  assuredly  the  art  of  killing  time 
here,  without  killing  one's  self,  is  worth  knowing." 

"The  misfortune  is,  I  cannot  communicate  it;  that  is, 
even  giving  me  credit  for  possessing  one,  my  skill  is  like 
that  of  some  great  medical  practitioner,  who  has  learnt  to 
look  on  disease  with  such  practised  eyes  that  the  appro- 
priate i"emedy  rises  as  it  were  instinctively  to  his  mind,  — 
he  knows  not  how  or  why,  —  and  who  dies,  without  being 
able  to  transmit  the  knowledge  to  a  successor.  I  have, 
somewhat  in  the  same  way,  become  an  accomplished  idler ; 
and  with  such  success  that  the  dreariest  day  of  rain  that 
ever  darkened  the  dirty  windows  of  a  village  inn,  the 
most  scorching  dog-day  that  ever  emptied  the  streets  of 
an  Italian  city,  and  sent  all  the  inhabitants  to  their  siesta, 
never  hipped  me.  I  have  spent  a  month  with  perfect  satis- 
faction in  quarantine,  and  bobbed  for  three  weeks  in  a 
calm  at  sea,  with  no  other  inconvenience  than  the  moans 
of  my  fellow-passengers.  There  'a  no  secret  in  it,  Mr. 
Onslow;  or,  if  there  be,  it  lies  in  this  pretty  discovery, 
that  we  are  always  bored  by  our  habit  of  throwing  our- 
selves on  the  resources  of  somebody  else,  who,  in  his  turn, 
looks  out  for  another,  and  so  on.  Now,  a  man  in  a  fever 
never  dreams  of  cooling  his  hand  by  laying  it  on  another 
patient's  cheek ;  yet  this  is  what  we  do.  To  be  thoroughly 
bored,  you  must  associate  yourself  with  some  half-dozen 
tired,  weary,  dyspeptic  twaddles,  and  make  up  a  joint-stock 
bank  of  your  several  incapacities,  learn  to  growl  in  chorus, 
and  you'll  be  able  to  go  home  and  practise  it  as  a  solo." 

"And  have  you  been  completely  alone  here  of  late?  "  said 
George,  who  began  to  fear  that  the  sermon  on  ennui  was  not 
unaccompanied  by  a  taste  of  the  evil. 


122  THE   DALTONS. 

"  Occasionally  I  've  chatted  for  half  an  hour  with  two 
gentlemen  who  reside  here,  —  a  Colonel  Haggerstone  —  " 

"  By  the  way,  who  is  he?  "  broke  in  Onslow,  eagerly. 

"  He  has  been  traced  back  to  Madras,  but  the  most 
searching  inquiries  have  failed  to  elicit  anything  further." 

"  Is  he  the  man  they  called  Arlington's  Colonel  Hagger- 
stone?" 

Jekyl  nodded ;  but  with  an  air  that  seemed  to  say,  he 
would  not  enter  more  deeply  into  the  subject. 

"  And  your  other  companion  —  who  is  he?" 

"Peter  Dalton,  of  —  I  am  ashamed  to  say  —  I  forget 
where,"  said  Jekyl ;  who,  at  once  assuming  Dalton's  bloated 
look,  in  a  well- feigned  Irish  accent,  went  on  :  '•'a  descendant 
of  as  ancient  and  as  honorable  a  familee  as  any  in  the  three 
kingdoms,  and  if  a  little  down  in  the  world  —  bad  luck  to 
them  that  done  it !  —  just  as  ready  as  ever  he  was  to  enjoy 
agreeable  society  and  the  ganial  flow  of  soul." 

"  He  's  the  better  of  the  two,  I  take  it,"  said  Onslow. 

"More  interesting,  certainly, — just  as  a  ruined  chateau 
is  a  more  picturesque  object  than  a  new  police-station  or 
a  cut-stone  penitentiary.  There 's  another  feature  also 
which  ought  to  give  him  the  preference.  I  have  seen  two 
very  pretty  faces  from  time  to  time  as  I  have  passed  the 
windows,  and  which  I  conjecture  to  belong  to  his  daughters." 

"  Have  you  not  made  their  acquaintance?  "  asked  Onslow, 
in  some  surprise. 

"  I  grieve  to  say  I  have  not,"  sighed  Jekyl,  softly. 

"  Why,  the  matter  should  not  be  very  difficult,  one  might 
opine,  in  such  a  place,  at  such  a  time,  and  with  —  " 

He  hesitated,  and  Jekyl  added,  — 

"  With  such  a  papa,  you  were  about  to  say.  Well,  that 
is  precisely  the  difficulty.  Had  my  excellent  friend,  Peter, 
been  a  native  of  any  other  country,  I  flatter  myself  I  should 
have  known  how  to  make  my  advances ;  but  with  these  dear 
Irish  their  very  accessibility  is  a  difficulty  of  no  common 
order.  Assume  an  air  of  deference  and  respect,  and  they  'II 
set  you  down  for  a  cold  formalist,  with  whom  they  can 
have  nothing  in  common.  Try  the  opposite  line,  and  affect 
the  free  and  easy,  and  the  chances  are  that  you  have  a  duel 
to  fight  before   you   know   you  have   offended.     I   confess 


MR.   ALBERT  JEKYL.  123 

that  I  have  made  several  small  advances,  and  thrown  out 
repeated  little  hints  about  loneliness,  and  long  evenings,  and 
so  forth ;  and  although  he  has  concurred  with  me  in  everj' 
word,  yet  his  practice  has  never  followed  his  precept.  But 
I  don't  despair.  What  say  you,  if  we  attack  the  fortress 
as  allies?  I  have  a  notion  we  should  succeed?" 
"With  all  my  heart.  What's  your  plan?" 
"At  this  moment  I  have  formed  none,  nor  is  there  need 
of  any.  Let  us  go  out,  like  the  kuight-errants  of  old,  in 
searcli  of  adventures,  and  see  if  they  will  not  befall  us. 
The  first  step  will  be  to  make  Dalton's  acquaintance.  Now, 
he  always  takes  his  walk  in  bad  weather  in  the  great  Saal 
below;  should  he  not  make  his  appearance  there  to-day, 
as  he  has  already  absented  himself  for  some  days,  I  '11  call 
to  inquire  after  him  at  his  own  house.  You  '11  accompany 
me.     The  rest  we  '11  leave  to  fortune." 

Although  Onslow  could  not  see  that  this  step  could  lead 
to  anything  beyond  a  civil  reply  to  a  civil  demand,  he  as- 
sented readily,  and  promised  to  meet  his  companion  at  four 
o'clock  the  same  evening.  As  for  Jekyl,  he  took  a  very 
different  view  of  the  whole  transaction,  for  he  knew  that 
while  to  him  there  might  be  considerable  difficulty  in  estab- 
lishing any  footing  with  the  Daltons,  the  son  of  the  wealthy 
baronet  would  be,  in  all  likelihood,  very  differently  looked 
on.  In  presenting  Mm,  thought  he,  I  shall  have  become 
the  friend  of  the  family  at  once.  It  had  often  before  been 
his  fortune  in  life  to  have  made  valuable  acquaintances  in 
this  manner;  and  although  the  poor  Daltons  were  very 
unlikely  to  figure  in  the  category  of  profitable  friends,  they 
would  at  least  afford  an  agreeable  resource  against  the 
dulness  of  wintry  evenings,  and  prevent  what  he  himself 
called  the  "  demoralization  "  of  absence  from  female  society. 
Lastly,  the  scheme  promised  to  establish  a  close  intimacy 
between  Onslow  and  himself ;  and  here  was  a  benefit  worth 
all  the  others. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

A   SUSPICIOUS   VISITOR. 

How  far  were  the  Daltons  from  suspecting  that  they  were 
the  subject  of  so  much  aud  such  varied  solicitude,  aud  that, 
while  Lady  Hester  was  fancying  to  herself  all  the  fashion- 
able beauties  whom  Kate  would  eclipse  in  loveliness,  and 
what  an  effect  charms  like  hers  would  produce  on  society. 
Sir  Stafford  was  busily  concerting  with  his  lawyer  the  means 
of  effectually  benefiting  them ;  and  George  Onslow  —  for 
want  of  better —  speculated,  as  he  smoked,  on  "  the  kind  of 
people  "  they  would  prove,  and  wondered  whether  the  scheme 
were  worth  the  light  trouble  it  was  to  cost  him.  Little 
did  they  know  of  all  this,  little  imagine  that  outside  of 
their  humble  roof  there  lived  one  —  save  "  dear  Frank"  — 
whose  thoughts  included  them.  "  The  purple  and  fine 
linen  "  category  of  this  world  cannot  appreciate  the  force 
of  this  want  of  sympathy !  They,  whose  slightest  griefs 
and  least  afflictions  in  life  are  always  certain  of  the  con- 
solations of  friends,  aud  the  even  more  bland  solace  of  a 
fashionable  physician  —  whose  woes  are  re-echoed  by  the 
"  Morning  Post,"  and  whose  sorrows  are  mourned  in  Court 
Journals  —  cannot  frame  to  themselves  the  sense  of  isola- 
tion which  narrow  fortune  impresses.  "  Poverty,"  says  a 
classical  authority,  "  has  no  heavier  evil  than  that  it  makes 
men  ridiculous."  But  this  wound  to  self-love,  deep  and 
poignant  though  it  be,  is  light  in  comparison  with  the  crush- 
ing sense  of  isolation,  —  that  abstraction  from  sympathy 
in  which  poor  men  live ! 

The  Daltons  were  seated  around  Hanserl's  bed,  silently 
ministering  to  the  sick  man,  and  watching  with  deep  and 
anxious  interest  the  labored  respiration  and  couvnlsive 
twitches   of  his   fever.     The  wild  and   rapid  utterance   of 


A  SUSPICIOUS  VISITOR.  125 

his  lips,  and  the  strange  fancies  they  syllabled,  often  ex- 
citing him  to  laughter,  only  deepened  the  gravity  of  their 
countenances,  and  cast  over  the  glances  they  interchanged 
a  tinge  of  sadder  meaning. 

"He  could  n't  have  better  luck,"  muttered  Dalton,  sorrow- 
fully; "just  from  being  a  friend  to  us  I  If  he  had  never 
seen  nor  heard  of  us,  maybe  't  is  happy  and  healthy  he  'd  be 
to-day!" 

"Nay,  nay,  papa,"  said  Nelly,  gently;  "this  is  to  speak 
too  gloomily ;  nor  is  it  good  for  us  to  throw  on  fortune  the 
burden  that  we  each  should  bear  patiently." 

"Don't  tell  me  that  there  is  not  such  a  thing  as  luck!  " 
replied  Dalton,  in  a  tone  of  irritation.  "I  know  well 
whether  there  is  or  no!  For  five-and- thirty  years  whatever 
I  put  my  hand  to  in  life  turned  out  badly.  It  was  the  same 
whether  I  did  anything  on  the  spur  of  the  moment,  or 
thought  over  it  for  weeks.  If  I  wished  a  thing,  that  was 
reason  enough  for  it  to  come  out  wrong !  " 

"And  even  wei'e  it  all  as  you  fancy,  papa  dearest," 
said  Nelly,  as  she  fondly  drew  her  arm  round  him,  "is  it 
nothing  that  these  reverses  have  found  you  strong  of  heart 
and  high  of  courage  to  bear  them?  Over  and  over  again 
have  you  told  me  that  the  great  charm  of  field  sports  lay 
in  the  sense  of  fatigue  bravely  endured,  and  peril  boldly 
confronted;  that,  devoid  of  these,  they  were  unworthy  of 
men.  Is  there  not  a  greater  glory,  then,  in  stemming  the 
tide  of  adverse  fortune;  and  is  it  not  a  higher  victory  that 
carries  you  triumphant  over  the  real  trials  of  life,  —  kind  of 
heart,  trustful,  and  generous,  as  in  the  best  days  of  your 
prosperity,  and  with  a  more  gentle  and  forbearing  spirit 
than  prosperity  ever  taught?  " 

"That 's  nothing  against  what  I  was  saying,"  said  Dal- 
ton, but  with  a  more  subdued  face.  "There  's  poor  little 
Hans,  and  till  a  couple  of  days  ago  he  never  knew  what  it 
was  to  be  unlucky.  As  he  told  us  himself,  his  life  was  a 
fairy  tale." 

"True,"  interposed  Nelly;  "and  happy  as  it  was,  and 
blameless  and  guileless  he  who  led  it,  mark  how  many  a 
gloomy  thought,  what  dark  distressing  fancies,  hover  round 
his  brain,  and  shadow  his  sick-bed!     No,  no!  the  sorrows 


126  THE  DALTONS. 

of  this  world  are  more  equally  distributed  than  we  think 
for,  and  he  who  seems  to  have  fewest  is  oftentimes  but  he 
who  best  conceals  them !  " 

Her  voice  shook,  and  became  weaker  as  she  spoke ;  and 
the  last  few  words  were  barely  audible.  Dalton  did  not 
notice  her  emotion;  but  Kate's  looks  were  bent  upon  her 
with  an  expression  of  fond  and  affectionate  meaning. 

"There 's  somebody  at  the  door,"  whispered  Dalton; 
"see  who  it  is,  Kate." 

Kate  arose,  and  opening  the  door  softly,  beheld  old  Andy ; 
his  shrivelled  features  and  lustreless  eyes  appearing  in  a 
state  of  unusual  excitement. 

"What's  the  matter,  Andy?  what  is  it  you  want?"  said 
she. 

"Is  the  master  here?     Where  's  the  master?  " 

"He's  here;  what  do  you  want  with  him?"  rejoined  she. 

"I  want  himself,"  said  he,  as  with  his  palsied  hand  he 
motioned  to  Dalton  to  come  out. 

"What  is  it,  you  old  fool?"  said  Dalton,  impatiently,  as 
he  arose  and  followed  him  outside  of  the  room. 

"There's  one  of  them  again!"  said  Andj^,  putting  his 
mouth  to  Dalton's  ear,  and  whispering  in  deep  confidence. 

"One  of  what?  —  one  of  whom?" 

"He  's  upstairs,"  muttered  Andy. 

"Who's  upstairs,  — who  is  he?"  cried  Dalton,  angrily. 

"Didn't  I  know  him  the  minit  I  seen  him!  Ayeh! 
Ould  as  I  am,  my  eyes  isn't  that  dim  yet." 

"God  give  me  patience  with  you! "  said  Dalton;  and,  to 
judge  from  his  face,  he  was  not  entreating  a  vain  blessing. 
"Tell  me,  I  say,  what  do  you  mean,  or  who  is  it  is 
upstairs  ?  " 

Andy  put  his  lips  once  more  to  the  other's  ear,  and  whis- 
pered, "An  attorney!" 

"An  attorney!  "  echoed  Dalton. 

"Iss!  "  said  Andy,  with  a  significant  nod. 

"And  how  do  you  know  he 's  an  attorney?" 

"I  seen  him!"  replied  the  other,  with  a  grin;  "and  I 
locked  the  door  on  him." 

"What  for?" 

"What  for!  —  what  for,  is  it?     Oh,  murther,  murther!  " 


^  A  SUSPICIOUS  VISITOR.  127 

whined  the  old  creature,  who  in  this  unhappy  question 
thought  he  read  the  evidence  of  his  poor  master's  wreck  of 
intellect.  It  was  indeed  no  slight  shock  to  him  to  hear  that 
Peter  Dalton  had  grown  callous  to  danger,  and  could  listen 
to  the  terrible  word  he  had  uttered  without  a  sign  of 
emotion. 

"I  seen  the  papers  with  a  red  string  round  'em,"  said 
Andy,  as  though  by  this  incidental  trait  he  might  be  able 
to  realize  all  the  menaced  danger. 

"Sirrah,  ye 're  an  old  fool!"  said  Ualton,  angrily;  and, 
jerking  the  key  from  his  trembling  fingers,  he  pushed 
past  him,  and  ascended  the  stairs. 

If  Dalton's  impatience  had  been  excited  by  the  old  man's 
absurd  terrors  and  foolish  warnings,  his  own  heart  was  not 
devoid  of  a  certain  vague  dread,  as  he  slowly  wended  his 
way  upwards.  It  was  true  he  did  not  partake  of  old 
Andy's  fear  of  the  dread  ofl3cial  of  the  law.  Andy,  who, 
forgetting  time  and  place,  not  knowing  that  they  were  in 
another  land,  where  the  King's  writ  never  ran,  saw  in  the 
terrible  apparition  the  shadows  of  coming  misfortune. 
Every  calamity  of  his  master's  house  had  been  heralded  by 
such  a  visit,  and  he  could  as  soon  have  disconnected  the 
banshee  with  a  sudden  death,  as  the  sight  of  an  attorney 
with  an  approaching  disaster. 

It  is  true,  Dalton  did  not  go  this  far;  but  still  old 
impressions  were  not  so  easily  effaced.  And  as  the  liber- 
ated captive  is  said  to  tremble  at  the  clanking  of  a  chain, 
so  his  heart  responded  to  the  fear  that  memory  called  up  of 
past  troubles  and  misfortunes. 

"What  can  he  want  with  me  now?"  muttered  he,  as  he 
stopped  to  take  breath,  "They  've  left  me  nothing  but  life, 
and  they  can't  take  that.  It 's  not  that  I  'd  care  a  great 
deal  if  they  did!  Maybe  it's  more  bother  about  them 
titles;  but  I'll  not  trouble  my  head  about  them.  I  sold 
the  land,  and  I  spent  the  money;  ay,  and  what 's  more,  I 
spent  it  at  home  among  my  own  people,  like  a  gentleman! 
and  if  I  'm  an  absentee  it 's  not  my  fault.  I  suppose  he 
couldn't  arrest  me,"  said  he,  after  a  pause;  "but,  God 
knows,  they  're  making  new  laws  every  day,  and  it 's  hard 
to  say  if  they  '11  let  a  man  have  peace  or  ease  in  any  quarter 


128  THE   DALTONS.  ' 

of  the  world  before  long.  Well,  well !  there  's  no  use 
guessing.  I  have  nothing  to  sell  —  nothing  to  lose;  I  sup- 
pose they  don't  make  it  a  hanging  matter  even  for  an 
Irishman  to  live  a  trifle  too  fast."  And  with  this  piece  of 
reassuring  comfort,  he  pulled  up  his  cravat,  threw  back  the 
breast  of  his  coat,  and  prepared  to  confront  the  enemy 
bravely. 

Although  Dalton  made  some  noise  in  unlocking  the  door, 
and  not  less  in  crossing  the  little  passage  that  led  to  the 
sitting-room,  his  entrance  was  unperceived  by  the  stranger, 
who  was  busily  engaged  in  examining  a  half-finished  group 
by  Nelly.  It  represented  an  old  soldier,  whose  eyes  were 
covered  by  a  bandage,  seated  beside  a  well,  while  a  little 
drummer-boy  read  to  him  the  bulletin  of  a  great  victory. 
She  had  destined  the  work  for  a  present  to  Frank,  and  had 
put  forth  all  her  genius  in  its  composition.  The  glowing 
enthusiasm  of  the  blind  veteran,  his  half-opened  lips,*  his 
attitude  of  eagerness  as  he  drank  in  the  words,  were  finely 
contrasted  with  the  childlike  simplicity  of  the  boy,  more 
intent,  as  it  seemed,  in  spelling  out  the  lines  than  following 
the  signification. 

If  the  stranger  was  not  a  finished  connoisseur,  he  was 
certainly  not  ignorant  of  art,  and  was  deep  in  its  contem- 
plation when  Dalton  accosted  him. 

"I  beg  pardon, — Mr.  Dalton,  I  presume;  really  this 
clever  composition  has  made  me  forget  myself  totally. 
May  I  ask,  is  it  the  work  of  a  native  artist?  " 

"It  was  done  in  this  place,  sir,"  replied  Dalton,  whose 
pride  in  his  daughter's  skill  was  overlaid  by  a  less  worthy 
feeling,  —  shame  that  a  Dalton  should  condescend  to  such 
an  occupation. 

"I  have  seen  very  inferior  productions  highly  prized  and 
praised ;  and  if  I  am  not  indiscreet  —  " 

"To  prevent  any  risk  of  that  kind,"  observed  Dalton, 
interrupting  him,  "I  '11  take  the  liberty  of  asking  your 
name,  and  the  object  of  this  visit." 

"Prichard,  sir;  of  the  firm  of  Prichard  and  Harding, 
solicitors,  Lincoln's  Inn  Fields,"  replied  the  other,  whose 
voice  and  manner  at  once  assumed  a  business-like  tone. 

"I  never  heard  the  names  before,"  said  Dalton,  motioning 


A  SUSPICIOUS  VISITOR.  129 

to  a  chair.  The  stranger  seated  himself,  and,  placing  a 
large  roll  of  papers  before  him  on  the  table,  proceeded  to 
untie  and  arrange  them  most  methodically,  and  with  the 
air  of  a  man  too  deeply  impressed  with  the  importance  of 
his  occupation  to  waste  a  thought  upon  the  astonishment 
of  a  bystander. 

"Prichard  and  Harding  are  mighty  cool  kind  of  gentle- 
men," thought  Dalton,  as  he  took  his  seat  at  the  opposite 
side  of  the  table,  trying,  but  not  with  any  remarkable  suc- 
cess, to  look  as  much  at  ease  as  his  visitor. 

"Copy  of  deed  —  draft  of  instructions  —  bill  of  sale  of 
stock  —  no,  here  it  is!  This  is  what  we  want,"  muttered 
Prichard,  half  aloud.  "I  believe  that  letter,  sir,  is  in  your 
handwriting?  " 

Dalton  put  on  his  spectacles  and  looked  at  the  document 
for  a  few  seconds,  during  which  his  countenance  gradually 
appeared  to  light  up  with  an  expression  of  joyful  meaning ; 
for  his  eye  glistened,  and  a  red  flush  suflfused  his  cheek. 

"It  is,  sir, — that's  mine,  every  word  of  it;  and  what's 
more,  I  'm  as  ready  to  stand  to  it  to-day  as  the  hour  I 
wrote  it." 

Mr.  Prichard,  scarcely  noticing  the  reply,  was  again  deep 
in  his  researches;  but  the  object  of  them  must  be  reserved 
for  another  chapter. 


VOL.  I.  —  9 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

AN   EMBARRASSING    QUESTION. 

How  very  seldom  it  is  that  a  man  looks  at  a  letter  he  has 
written  some  twenty  years  or  so  before,  and  peruses  it  with 
any  degree  of  satisfaction!  No  matter  how  pleasurable  the 
theme,  or  how  full  of  interest  at  the  time,  years  have  made 
such  changes  in  circumstances,  have  so  altered  his  relations 
with  the  world,  —  dispelled  illusions  here,  created  new  pros- 
pects there,  —  that  the  chances  are  he  can  feel  nothing  but 
astonishment  for  what  once  were  his  opinions,  and  a  strange 
sense  of  misgiving  that  he  ever  could  have  so  expressed 
himself. 

Rare  as  this  pleasure  is,  we  left  Mr.  Dalton  in  the  fullest 
enjoyment  of  it,  in  our  last  chapter;  and  as  he  read  and 
re-read  his  autograph,  every  feature  of  his  face  showed  the 
enjoyment  it  yielded  him. 

"My  own  writing,  sure  enough!  I  wish  I  never  put  my 
hand  to  paper  in  a  worse  cause.  Isn't  it  strange,"  he 
muttered,  "how  a  man's  heart  will  outlive  his  fingers?  I 
could  n't  write  now  as  well  as  I  used  then,  but  I  can  feel 
just  the  same.  There  's  the  very  words  I  said."  And  with 
this  he  read,  half  aloud,  from  the  paper:  "  '  But  if  you  '11 
consent  to  send  lawyers  and  attorneys  to  the  devil,  and 
let  the-  matter  be  settled  between  us,  like  two  gentlemen, 
Peter  Dalton  will  meet  you  when,  where,  and  how  you  like, 
and  take  the  satisfaction  as  a  full  release  of  every  claim 
and  demand  he  makes  on  you.'  Just  so;  and  a  fairer  offer 
never  was  made;  but  I  grieve  to  say  it  wasn't  met  in  the 
same  spirit." 

"When  you  wrote  that  letter,  Mr.  Dalton,"  said  Prichard, 
not  looking  up  from  the  papers  before  him,   "you  were 


AN  EMBARRASSING  QUESTION.  131 

doubtless  suffering  under  the  impression  of  a  wrong  at  the 
hands  of  Sir  Stafford  Onslow." 

"Faith,  I  believe  you.  The  loss  of  a  fine  estate  was  n't 
a  trifle,  whatever  you  may  think  it." 

"The  question  ought  rather  to  be,  what  right  had  you 
to  attribute  that  loss  to  him  ?  " 

"What  right  is  it?  All  the  right  in  the  world.  Who 
got  the  property?  Answer  me  that.  Was  n't  it  he  came  in 
as  a  sole  legatee?  But  what  atn  I  talking  about?  Sure  the 
thing  is  done  and  ended,  and  what  more  does  he  want?  " 

"I  'm  just  coming  to  that  very  point,  sir,"  said  Prichard. 
"Sir  Stafford's  attention  having  been  accidentally  called  to 
this  transaction,  he  perceives  that  he  has  unwittingly  done 
you  a  great  injustice,  and  that  there  is  one  matter,  at  least, 
on  which  he  is  bound,  even  for  his  own  satisfaction  —  " 

"Satisfaction,  is  it?"  broke  in  Dalton,  catching  at  the 
only  word  that  struck  his  ear  with  a  distinct  signification. 
"Better  late  than  never;  and  it 's  proud  I  am  to  oblige  him. 
Not  but  there  's  people  would  tell  you  that  the  time  's  gone 
by,  and  all  that  sort  of  thing;  but  them  was  never  my  senti- 
ments. '  Never  a  bad  time  for  a  good  deed, '  my  poor  father 
used  to  say,  and  you  may  tell  him  that  I  '11  think  the  better 
of  his  countrymen  to  the  day  of  my  death,  for  what  he  's 
going  to  do  now." 

Prichard  laid  down  the  paper  he  was  reading,  and  stared 
at  the  speaker  in  mute  amazement. 

"You  're  his  friend,  I  perceive,"  said  Dalton. 

"Sir  Stafford  is  kind  enough  to  consider  me  in  that 
light." 

"Faith,  the  kindness  is  all  the  other  way,"  rejoined  Dal- 
ton, laughing,  —  "at  least,  in  this  country;  for  the  seconds 
are  just  as  guilty  as  the  principals,  and  have  no  fun  for 
their  money.  But,  sure,  we  can  cross  over  to  Landau; 
they  tell  me  it's  Barbaria  there,  over  the  Rhine." 

"Bavaria,  perhaps?"  interposed  the  other. 

"  Yes,  that 's  what  I  said.  We  can  be  over  the  frontier 
in  two  hours.  There 's  every  conveniency  in  life,"  said  he, 
rubbing  his  hands  in  high  glee. 

"  Our  business,  I  trust,  sir,  can  be  all  arranged  here,  and 
without  much  delay,  either." 


132  THE   DALTONS. 

"Just  as  you  like;  I  'm  not  fond  of  moving  since  my  knee 
was  bad,  and  I  'm  agreeable  to  anything." 

"You  seem  to  contemplate  a  hostile  meeting,  sir,  if  I 
understand  you  aright,"  said  Prichard,  slowly;  "but  if  you 
had  been  kind  enough  to  hear  me  out,  you'd  have  seen 
that  nothing  was  further  from  my  friend's  thoughts  or  my 
own." 

"Oh,  murther!"  groaned  Dal  ton,  as  he  sank  down  into 
a  chair. 

"We  never  entertained  any  such  intention." 

"No  duel?" 

"Nothing  of  the  kind." 

"Sure,  I  heard  you  say  satisfaction.  I  '11  take  my  oath 
you  said  satisfaction." 

"  I  hope  sincerely,  sir,  that  the  word  may  bear  a  peace- 
ful signification." 

"Oh  dear,  oh  dear!  "  cried  Dalton,  as,  clasping  his  hands 
on  his  knees,  he  sat,  a  perfect  type  of  disappointed  hope, 
and  totally  inattentive  to  a  very  eloquent  explanation  that 
Prichard  was  pouring  forth. 

"You  see,  now,  sir,  I  trust,"  cried  the  latter,  trium- 
phantly, "that  if  my  friend's  intentions  are  not  precisely 
what  you  looked  for,  they  are  not  less  inspired  by  an 
anxious  desire  to  cultivate  your  friendship  and  obtain  your 
good  opinion." 

"I  wasn't  listening  to  a  word  you  were  saying,"  said 
Dalton,  with  a  sincerity  that  would  have  made  many  men 
smile;  but  Mr.  Prichard  never  laughed,  or  only  when  the 
joke  was  uttered  by  a  silk  gown,  or  the  initiative  given  by 
the  bench  itself. 

"I  was  endeavoring,  sir,  to  convey,"  said  he  again,  and 
with  infinite  patience,  "that,  by  a  clause  of  the  late  Mr. 
Godfrey's  will,  the  suggestion  was  made  to  the  effect  that, 
if  Sir  Stafford  Onslow  should  deem  it  fitting  and  suitable, 
the  testator  would  not  be  averse  to  an  annuity  of  from  one 
hundred  and  fifty  to  two  hundred  pounds  per  annum  being 
settled  on  Mr.  Peter  Dalton  for  the  term  of  his  life.  This 
clause  has  now  been  brought  under  Sir  Stafford's  notice  for 
the  first  time,  as  he  never,  in  fact,  saw  the  will  before. 
The  document  was  lodged  in  our  hands;  and  as  certain 


AN  EMBARRASSING  QUESTION.  133 

proceedings,  of  which  the  letter  you  have  just  acknowl- 
edged forms  a  part,  at  that  period  placed  you  in  a  peculiar 
position  of  hostility  to  Sir  Stafford,  we,  as  his  legal  ad- 
visers, did  not  take  any  remarkable  pains  to  impress  this 
recommendation  on  his  memory." 

"Go  on;  I  'm  listening  to  you,"  said  Dalton. 

"Well,  sir.  Sir  Stafford  is  now  desirous  of  complying 
with  this  injunction,  the  terms  of  which  he  reads  as  more 
obligatory  upon  him  than  his  legal  friends  would  be  willing 
to  substantiate.  In  fact,  he  makes  the  matter  a  question 
of  feeling  and  not  of  law;  and  this,  of  course,  is  a  point 
wherein  we  have  no  right  to  interpose  an  opinion.  Some- 
thing like  ten  years  have  elapsed  since  Mr,  Godfrey's  death, 
and  taking  the  sum  at  two  hundred  pounds,  with  interest 
at  five  per  cent,  a  balance  of  above  three  thousand  two  hun- 
dred will  now  be  at  your  disposal,  together  with  the  annuity 
on  your  life;  and  to  arrange  the  payment  of  these  moneys, 
and  take  measures  for  their  future  disbursement,  I  have  the 
honor  to  present  myself  before  you.  As  for  these  letters, 
they  are  your  own;  and  Sir  Stafford,  in  restoring  them, 
desires  to  efface  all  memory  of  the  transaction  they  referred 
to,  and  to  assure  you  that,  when  circumstances  enable  him 
to  meet  you,  it  may  be  on  terms  of  perfect  cordiality  and 
friendship." 

"  Upon  my  soul  and  conscience  I  don't  understand  a  word 
of  it  all!"  said  Dalton,  whose  bewildered  looks  gave  a 
perfect  concurrence  to  the  speech.  "Is  it  that  I  have  a 
right  to  all  the  money?  " 

"Exactly,  sir;  Sir  Stafford  feels  that  he  is  simply  carry- 
ing out  the  wishes  of  your  relative,  Mr.  Godfrey  —  " 

"But  this  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  little  difference 
between  Sir  Stafford  and  myself?  I  mean,  it  leaves  us 
just  where  we  were  before." 

"Sir  Stafford  hopes  that  henceforth  a  better  understand- 
ing will  subsist  between  you  and  himself;  and  that  you, 
seeing  how  blameless  he  has  been  in  the  whole  history  of 
your  losses,  will  receive  this  act  as  an  evidence  of  his 
desire  to  cultivate  your  friendship." 

"And  this  two  hundred  a  year?  " 

"Is  Mr.  Godfrey's  bequest." 


134  THE   DALTONS. 

"But  depending  on  Sir  Stafford  to  pay  ov  not,  as  he 
likes." 

"1  have  already  told  you,  sir,  that  he  conceives  he  has 
no  option  in  the  matter;  and  that  the  mere  expression  of 
a  desire  on  Mr.  Godfrey's  part  becomes  to  him  a  direct 
injunction." 

"Faith,  he  was  mighty  long  in  finding  it  out,  then,"  said 
Dalton,  laughing. 

'"1  believe  1  have  explained  myself  on  that  head,"  replied 
Prichard;  "but  I  am  quite  ready  to  go  over  the  matter 
again." 

"God  forbid!  my  head  is  '  moidered '  enough  already, 
not  to  make  it  worse.  Explanations,  as  they  call  them, 
always  puzzle  me  more;  but  if  you  'd  go  over  the  subject 
to  my  daughter  Nelly,  her  brain  is  as  clear  as  the  Lord 
Chancellor's.  I'll  just  call  her  up  here;  for,  to  tell  you 
the  truth,  I  never  see  my  way  right  in  anything  till  Nelly 
makes  it  out  for  me." 

Mr.  Prichard  was  probably  not  grieved  at  the  prospect 
of  a  more  intelligent  listener,  and  readily  assented  to  the 
proposition,  in  furtherance  of  which  Dalton  left  the  room 
to  seek  his  daughter.  On  descending  to  the  little  chamber 
where  he  had  left  the  two  girls  in  waiting  beside  the  dwarf's 
sick-bed,  he  now  discovered  that  they  had  gone,  and  that 
old  Andy  had  replaced  them,  —  a  change  which,  to  judge 
from  Hansel's  excited  looks  and  wild  utterance,  was  not 
by  any  means  to  his  taste. 

"Was  machst  du  hier?  "  cried  he,  sternly,  to  the  old  man. 

"Whisht!  alannah!  Take  a  sleep,  acushla!"  whined  old 
Andy,  as,  under  the  delusion  that  it  was  beside  an  infant 
his  watch  was  established,  he  tried  to  rock  the  settle-bed 
like  a  cradle,  and  then  croned  away  in  a  cracked  voice  one 
of  his  own  native  ditties :  — 

"  I  saw  a  man  weeping  and  makin'  sad  moan. 
He  was  crying  and  grievin', 
For  he  knew  their  deceivin*, 
An'  rockin'  a  cradle  for  a  child  not  his  own." 

"Was  fiir  katzen  jammer!  What  for  cats'  music  mak'st 
thou  there?" 


AN  EMBARRASSING  QUESTION.  135 

"Where 's  the  girls,  Andy ?  "  whispered  Daltou  in  the  old 
man's  ear. 

"They  're  gone,"  muttered  he. 

"Gone  where?  —  where  did  they  go?  " 

"Fort  mit  ihm.  Away  with  him.  Leave  him  not  stay. 
Mein  head  is  heavy,  and  mein  brain  turn  round ! "  screamed 
Hanserl. 

"Will  ye  tell  me  where  they  're  gone,  I  say?"  cried  Dal- 
ton,  angrily. 

"Hushoo!  husho!  "  sang  out  the  old  man,  as  he  fancied 
he  was  composing  his  charge  to  sleep;  and  then  made  signs 
to  Dalton  to  be  still  and  not  awaken  him. 

With  an  angry  muttering  Dalton  turned  away  and  left 
the  chamber,  totally  regardless  of  Hanserl 's  entreaties  to 
take  Andy  along  with  him. 

"You're  just  good  company  for  each  other!"  said  he, 
sulkily,  to  himself.     "But  where 's  these  girls,  I  wonder?" 

"Oh,  papa,  I  have  found  you  at  last!"  cried  Kate,  as, 
bounding  down  the  stairs  half  a  dozen  steps  at  a  time,  she 
threw  her  arm  round  him.  "She's  here!  she's  upstairs 
with  us ;  and  so  delightful,  and  so  kind,  and  so  beautiful. 
I  never  believed  any  one  could  be  so  charming." 

"And  who  is  she,  when  she's  at  home?"  said  Dalton, 
half  sulkily. 

"Lady  Hester,  of  course,  papa.  She  came  while  we 
were  sitting  with  Hanserl,  —  came  quite  alone  to  see  him 
and  us;  and  when  she  had  talked  to  him  for  a  while,  so 
kindly  and  so  sweetly,  about  his  wound,  and  his  fever,  and 
his  home  in  the  Tyrol,  and  his  mother,  and  everything,  she 
turned  to  Nelly  and  said,  '  Now,  my  dears,  for  a  little  con- 
versation with  yourselves.  Where  shall  we  go  to  be  quit6 
alone  and  uninterrupted?  '  We  did  n't  know  what  to  say, 
papa;  for  we  knew  that  you  and  the  strange  gentleman  were 
busy  in  the .  sitting-room,  and  while  I  was  thinking  what 
excuse  to  make,  Nelly  told  her  that  our  only  room  was 
occupied.  '  Oh,  I  don't  care  for  that  in  the  least,'  said  she; 
'let  us  shut  ourselves  up  in  your  dressing-room.'  Our 
dressing-room!  I  could  have  laughed  and  cried  at  the  same 
moment  she  said  it;  but  Nelly  said  that  we  had  none,  and 
invited  her  upstairs  to  her  bedroom ;  and  there  she  is  now, 


136  THE   DALTONS. 

papa,  sitting  on  the  little  bed,  and  making  Nelly  tell  her 
everything  about  who  we  are,  and  whence  we  came,  and 
how  we  chanced  to  be  living  here." 

"I  wonder  Nelly  had  n't  more  sense,"  said  Dal  ton, 
angrily;  "not  as  much  as  a  curtain  on  the  bed,  nor  a  bit  of 
carpet  on  the  floor.     What  '11  she  think  of  us  all?  " 

"Oh,  papa,  you're  quite  mistaken;  she  called  it  a  dear 
little  snuggery;  said  she  envied  Nelly  so  much  that  lovely 
view  over  P^berstein  and  the  Schloss,  and  said  what  would 
she  not  give  to  lead  our  happy  and  peaceful  life,  away  from 
that  great  world  she  despises  so  heartily.  How  sad  to 
think  her  duties  tie  her  down  to  a  servitude  so  distasteful 
and  repulsive!  " 

'"Isn't  my  Lady  the  least  taste  in  life  of  a  humbug, 
Kitty?"  whispered  Dalton,  as  his  eyes  twinkled  with  mali- 
cious drollery. 

"Papa,  papa!  you  cannot  mean  —  " 

"No  harm  if  she  is,  darling.  I'm  sure  the  pleasantest, 
ay,  and  some  of  the  worthiest  people  ever  I  knew  were 
humbugs,  —  that  is,  they  were  always  doing  their  best  to  be 
agreeable  to  the  company;  and  if  they  strained  their  con- 
sciences a  bit,  small  blame  to  them  for  that  same." 

"Lady  Hester  is  far  above  such  arts,  papa;  but  you  shall 
judge  for  yourself.  Come  in  now,  for  she  is  so  anxious  to 
know  you." 

Kate,  as  she  spoke,  had  opened  the  door  of  the  little 
bedroom,  and,  drawing  her  arm  within  her  father's,  gently 
led  him  forward  to  where  Lady  Hester  was  seated  upon  the 
humble  settle. 

"It's  a  nice  place  they  showed  you  into,  my  Lady,"  said 
Dalton,  after  the  ceremony  of  introduction  was  gone  through ; 
"and  there  was  the  drawing-room,  or  the  library,  and  the 
breakfast-parlor,  all  ready  to  receive  you." 

"We  heard  that  you  were  engaged  with  a  gentleman  on 
business,  papa." 

"Well,  and  if  I  was,  Nelly,  transacting  a  small  matter 
about  my  estates  in  Ireland,  sure  it  was  in  my  own  study 
we  were." 

"I  must  be  permitted  to  say  that  I  am  very  grateful  for 
any  accident  which  has  given  me  the  privilege  of  an  inti- 


AN  EMBARRASSING   QUESTION.  137 

mate  with  my  dear  young  friends,"  said  Lady  Hester,  in  her 
very  sweetest  of  manners;  "and  as  to  the  dear  little  room 
itself,  it  is  positively  charming." 

"  I  wish  you  'd  see  Mount  Dalton,  my  Lady.  There  's  a 
window,  and  it  is  n't  bigger  than  that  there,  and  you  can 
see  seven  baronies  out  of  it  and  a  part  of  three  counties,  — 
Killikelly's  flour-mills,  and  the  town  of  Drumcoolaghan  in 
the  distance;  not  to  speak  of  the  Shannon  winding  for  miles 
through  as  elegant  a  bog  as  ever  you  set  eyes  upon." 

"Indeed!"  smiled  her  Ladyship,  with  a  glance  of  deep 
interest. 

"  'T  is  truth,  I  'm  telling  you,  my  Lady,"  continued  he; 
"and,  what's  more,  'twas  our  own,  every  stick  and  stone 
of  it.  From  Crishnamuek  to  Ballymodereena  ou  one  side, 
and  from  the  chapel  at  Dooras  down  to  Drumcoolaghan, 
't  was  the  Dalton  estate." 

"What  a  princely  territory!  " 

"And  why  not?  Weren't  they  kings  once,  or  the  same 
as  kings?  Did  n't  my  grandfather,  Pearce,  hold  a  court  for 
life  and  death  in  his  own  parlor?  Them  was  the  happy 
and  the  good  times,  too,"  sighed  he,  plaintively. 

"But  I  trust  your  late  news  from  Ireland  is  favorable?" 

"Ah!  there  isn't  much  to  boast  about.  The  old  families 
is  dying  out  fast,  and  the  properties  changing  hands. 
A  set  of  P^nglish  rogues  and  banker-fellows  that  made 
their  money  in  dirty  lanes  and  alleys  — " 

A  sort  of  imploring,  beseeching  anxiety  from  his  daughter 
Kate  here  brought  Dalton  to  a  dead  stop,  and  he  pulled  up 
as  suddenly  as  if  on  the  brink  of  a  precipice. 

"Pray,  go  on,  Mr.  Dalton,"  said  Lady  Hester,  with  a 
winning  smile;  "you  cannot  think  how  much  you  have 
interested  me.  You  are  aware  that  we  really  know  nothing 
about  poor  dear  Ireland;  and  I  am  so  delighted  to  learn 
from  one  so  competent  to  teach." 

"I  did  n't  mean  any  offence,  my  Lady,"  stammered  out 
Dalton,  in  confusion.  "There  's  good  and  bad  everywhere; 
but  I  wish  to  the  Lord  the  cotton-spinners  would  n't  come 
among  us,  and  their  steam-engines,  and  their  black  chim- 
neys, and  their  big  factories;  and  they  say  we  are  not  far 
from  that  now." 


138  THE   DALTONS. 

A  gentle  tap  at  the  door  which  communicated  with  the 
sittiug-room  was  heard  at  this  moment,  and  Dalton 
exclaimed,  — 

"Come  in!"  but,  not  suffering  the  interruption  to  stop 
the  current  of  his  discourse,  he  was  about  to  resume, 
when  Mr.  Prichard's  well-powdered  head  appeared  at  the 
door. 

"I  began  to  suspect  you  had  forgotten  me,  Mr.  Dalton," 
said  he ;  but  suddenly  catching  a  glimpse  of  Lady  Hester, 
he  stopped  to  ask  pardon  for  the  intrusion. 

"Faith,  and  I  just  did,"  said  Dalton,  laughing;  "couldn't 
you  contrive  to  step  in  in  the  morning,  and  we  '11  talk  that 
little  matter  over  again?  " 

"Yes,  Prichard;  pray  don't  interrupt  us  now,"  said  Lady 
Hester,  in  a  tone  of  half-peevishness.  "I  cannot  possibly 
spare  you,  Mr.  Dalton,  at  this  moment;"  and  the  man  of 
law  withdrew,  with  a  most  respectful  obeisance. 

"You'll  forgive  me,  won't  you?"  said  she,  addressing 
Dalton,  with  a  glance  whose  blandishment  had  often  suc- 
ceeded in  a  more  difficult  case. 

"And  now,  papa,  we'll  adjourn  to  the  drawing-room," 
said  Kate,  who  somehow  continued  to  notice  a  hundred 
deficiencies  in  the  furniture  of  a  little  chamber  she  had 
often  before  deemed  perfect. 

Dalton  accordingly  offered  his  arm  to  Lady  Hester,  who 
accepted  the  courtesy  in  all  form,  and  the  little  party  moved 
into  the  sitting-room;  Nelly  following,  with  an  expression 
of  sadness  in  her  pale  features,  very  unlike  the  triumphant 
glances  of  her  father  and  sister. 

"I  'm  certain  of  your  pardon,  Mr.  Dalton,  and  of  yours^ 
too,  my  dear  child,"  said  Lady  Hester,  turning  towards 
Kate,  as  she  seated  herself  on  the  stiff  old  sofa,  "when  I 
avow  that  I  have  come  here  determined  to  pass  the  evening 
with  you.  I  'm  not  quite  so  sure  that  my  dear  Miss  Dalton's 
forgiveness  will  be  so  readily  accorded  me.  I  see  that  she 
already  looks  gravely  at  the  prospect  of  listening  to  my 
fiddle-faddle  instead  of  following  out  her  own  charming 
fancies." 

"Oh,  how  you  wrong  me,  my  Lady!"  broke  in  Nelly, 
eagerly.     "If  it  were  not  for  my  fears  of  our  unfitness  — 


AN  EMBARRASSING  QUESTION.  139 

our  inability,"  she  stammered  in  confusion  and  shame;  and 
old  Dalton  broke  in,  — 

"Don't  mind  her,  my  Lady;  we  're  as  well  used  to  com- 
pany as  any  family  in  the  country;  but,  you  see,  we  don't 
generally  mix  with  the  people  one  meets  abroad ;  and  why 
should  we?  God  knows  who  they  are.  There  was  chaps 
here  last  summer  at  the  tables  you  would  n't  let  into  the 
servants'  hall.  There  was  one  I  seen  myself,  with  an 
elegant  pair  of  horses,  as  nice  steppers  as  ever  you  looked 
at,  and  a  groom  behind  with  a  leather  strap  round  him, 
and  a "  —  here  Mr.  Dalton  performed  a  pantomime,  by 
extending  the  fingers  of  his  open  hand  at  the  side  of  his 
head,  to  represent  a  cockade  —  "  what  d'  ye  call  it  —  in  his 
hat;  and  who  was  he,  did  you  think?  'Billy  Rogers,'  of 
Muck ;  his  father  was  in  the  canal  —  " 

"In  the  canal!"  exclaimed  Lady  Hester,  in  affright. 

"Yes,  my  Lady;  in  the  Grand  Canal, — an  inspector  at 
forty  pounds  a  year,  —  the  devil  a  farthin'  more ;  and  if 
•you  seen  the  son  here,  with  two  pins  in  his  cravat,  and  a 
gold  chain  twisting  and  turning  over  his  waistcoat,  with  his 
hat  on  one  side,  and  yellow  gloves,  new  every  morning, 
throwing  down  the  '  Naps  '  at  that  thieving  game  they  call 
'  Red  and  Black,'  you'd  say  he  was  the  Duke  of  Leinster! " 

"Was  he  so  like  his  Grace?"  asked  Lady  Hester,  with 
a  delightful  simplicity. 

"No;  but  grander!  "  replied  Dalton,  with  a  wave  of  his 
hand. 

"It  is  really,  as  you  remark,  very  true,"  resumed  her 
Ladyship.  "It  is  quite  impossible  to  venture  upon  an 
acquaintance  out  of  England;  and  I  cordially  concur  in 
the  caution  you  practise." 

"So  I  'm  always  telling  the  girls,  — '  better  no  company 
than  trumpery!  '  not  that  I  don't  like  a  bit  of  sociality 
as  well  as  ever  I  did,  — a  snug  little  party  of  one's  own,  — 
people  whose  mothers  and  fathers  had  names,  —  the  real 
old  stock  of  the  land.  But  to  be  taken  up  with  every 
chance  rapscallion  you  meet  on  the  cross-roads,  —  to  be 
hand  and  glove  with  this,  that,  and  the  other,  —  them 
never  was  my  sentiments." 

It  is  but  justice  to  confess  there  was  less  of  hypocrisy  in 


140  THE  DALTONS. 

the  bland  smile  Lady  Hester  returned  to  this  speech  than 
might  be  suspected ;  for,  what  between  the  rapidity  of  Dal- 
ton's  utterance,  and  the  peculiar  accentuation  he  gave  to 
certain  words,  she  did  not  really  comprehend  one  syllable 
of  what  he  said.  Meanwhile  the  two  girls  sat  silent  and 
motionless.  Nelly,  in  all  the  suffering  of  shame  at  the 
absurdity  of  her  father's  tone,  —  the  vulgarity  of  an  assump- 
tion she  had  fondly  hoped  years  of  poverty  might  have 
tamed  down,  if  not  obliterated;  Kate,  in  mute  admiration 
of  their  lovely  visitor,  of  whose  graces  she  never  wearied. 
Nor  did  Lady  Hester  make  any  effort  to  include  them  in  the 
conversation;  she  had  come  out  expressly  for  one  sole 
object,  —  to  captivate  Mr.  Daltou ;  and  she  would  suffer 
nothing  to  interfere  with  her  project.  To  this  end  she 
heard  his  long  and  tiresome  monologues  about  Irish  misery 
and  distress,  narrated  with  an  adherence  to  minute  and  local 
details  that  made  the  whole  incomprehensible ;  she  listened 
to  him  with  well-feigned  interest,  in  his  narratives  of  the 
Daltons  of  times  long  past,  of  their  riotous  and  extrava- 
gant living,  their  lawlessness,  and  their  daring;  nor  did  she 
permit  her  attention  to  flag  while  he  recounted  scenes  and 
passages  of  domestic  annals  that  might  almost  have  filled  a 
page  of  savage  history. 

"How  sorry  you  must  have  felt  to  leave  a  country  so  dear 
by  all  its  associations  and  habits ! "  sighed  she,  as  he  fin- 
ished a  narrrative  of  more  than  ordinary  horrors. 

"Ain't  I  breaking  my  heart  over  it?  Ain't  I  fretting 
myself  to  mere  skin  and  bone?  "  said  he,  with  a  glance  of 
condolence  over  his  portly  figure.  "But  what  could  I  do? 
I  was  forced  to  come  out  here  for  the  education  of  the 
children  —  bother  it  for  education !  —  but  it  ruins  everybody 
nowadays.  When  I  was  a  boy,  reading  and  writing,  with 
a  trifle  of  figures,  was  enough  for  any  one.  If  you  could  tell 
what  twenty  bullocks  cost,  at  two  pounds  four-and-sixpence 
a  beast,  and  what  was  the  price  of  a  score  of  hoggets,  at 
fifteen  shillings  a  head,  and  wrote  your  name  and  address 
in  a  good  round  hand,  'twas  seldom  you  needed  more;  but 
now  you  have  to  learn  everj-thing,  —  ay,  sorrow  bit,  but  it 's 
learning  the  way  to  do  what  every  one  knows  by  nature; 
riding,   dancing,  —  no,  but  even  walking,  I  'm  told,  they 


AN  EMBARRASSING  QUESTION.  141 

teach  too!  Then  there's  French  you  must  learn  for 
talking!  and  Italian  to  sing!  —  and  German, — upon  my 
soul,  I  believe  it's  to  snore  in!  —  and  what  with  music, 
dancing,  and  drawing,  everybody  is  brought  up  like  a 
play-actor." 

"  There  is,  as  you  remark,  far  too  much  display  in  modern 
education,  Mr.  Dalton ;  but  you  would  seem  fortunate 
enough  to  have  avoided  the  error.  A  young  lady  whose 
genius  can  accomplish  such  a  work  as  this  — " 

"'Tis  one  of  Nelly's,  sure  enough,"  said  he,  looking  at 
the  group  to  which  she  pointed,  but  feeling  even  more 
shame  than  pride  in  the  avowal. 

The  sound  of  voices  —  a  very  unusual  noise  —  from  the 
door  without,  now  broke  in  upon  the  conversation,  and 
Andy's  cracked  treble  could  be  distinctly  heard  in  loud 
altercation. 

"Nelly!  Kitty!  I  say,"  cried  Dalton,  "see  what's  the 
matter  with  that  old  devil.  There's  something  come  over 
him  to-day,  I  think,  for  he  won't  be  quiet  for  two  minutes 
together." 

Kate  accordingly  hastened  to  discover  the  cause  of  a 
tumult  in  which  now  the  sound  of  laughter  mingled. 

As  tee,  however,  enjoy  the  prerogative  of  knowing  the 
facts  before  they  could  reach  Aer,  we  may  as  well  inform 
the  reader  that  Andy,  whose  intelligence  seemed  to  have 
been  preternaturally  awakened  by  the  sight  of  an  attorney, 
had  been  struck  by  seeing  two  strangers  enter  the  house- 
door  and  leisurely  ascend  the  stairs.  At  such  a  moment, 
and  with  his  weak  brain  filled  with  its  latest  impression, 
the  old  man  at  once  set  them  down  as  bailiffs  come  to 
arrest  his  master.  He  hobbled  after  them,  therefore,  as 
well  as  he  could,  and  just  reached  the  landing  as  Mr. 
Jekyl,  with  his  friend  Onslow,  had  arrived  at  the  door. 

"  Mr.  Dalton  lives  here,  I  believe?  "  said  Jekyl. 

"  Anan,"  muttered  Andy,  who,  although  he  heard  the 
question,  affected  not  to  have  done  so,  and  made  this  an 
excuse  for  inserting  himself  between  them  and  the  door. 

"I  was  asking  if  Mr.  Dalton  lived  here!"  cried  Jekyl, 
louder,  and  staring  with  some  astonishment  at  the  old 
fellow's  manoeuvre. 


142  THE   DALTONS. 

"Who  said  he  did,  eh?"  said  Andy,  with  an  effort  at 
fierceness. 

"  Perhaps  it 's  on  the  lower  story?  "  asked  Onslow. 

"Maybe  it  is,  and  maybe  it  isn't,  then!"  was  the 
answer. 

"  We  wish  to  see  him,  my  good  man,"  said  Jekyl;  "  or, 
at  least,  to  send  a  message  to  him." 

"Sure!  I  know  well  enough  what  ye  want,"  said  Andy, 
with  a  wave  of  his  hand.  "  'T  is  n't  the  first  of  yer  like  1 
seen !  " 

"And  what  may  that  be?"  asked  Onslow,  not  a  little 
amused  by  the  blended  silliness  and  shrewdness  of  the  old 
man's  face. 

"  Ayeh  !  I  know  yez  well,"  rejoined  he,  shaking  his  head. 
"  Be  off,  then,  and  don't  provoke  the  house !  Away  wid 
yez,  before  the  servants  sees  ye." 

"This  is  a  rare  fellow,"  said  Onslow,  who,  less  interested 
than  his  companion  about  the  visit,  was  quite  satisfied  to 
amuse  himself  with  old  Andy.  "  So  you  '11  not  even  permit 
us  to  send  our  respects,  and  ask  how  your  master  is?" 

"  I'm  certain  you'll  be  more  reasonable,"  simpered  Jekyl, 
as  he  drew  a  very  weighty-looking  purse  from  his  pocket, 
and,  with  a  considerable  degree  of  ostentation,  seemed  pre- 
paring to  open  it. 

The  notion  of  bribery,  and  in  such  a  cause,  was  too  much 
for  Andy's  feelings ;  and  with  a  sudden  jerk  of  his  hand, 
he  dashed  the  purse  out  of  Jekyl's  fingers,  and  scattered 
the  contents  all  over  the  landing  and  stairs.  "Ha,  ha!" 
cried  he,  wildly,  "'tis  only  ha'pence  he  has,  after  all!" 
And  the  taunt  was  so  far  true  that  the  ground  was  strewn 
with  kreutzers  and  other  copper  coins  of  the  very  smallest 
value. 

As  for  Onslow,  the  scene  was  too  ludicrous  for  him  any 
longer  to  restrain  his  laughter ;  and  although  Jekyl  laughed 
too,  and  seemed  to  relish  the  absurdity  of  his  mistake,  as  he 
called  it,  having  put  in  his  pocket  a  collection  of  rare  and 
curious  coins,  his  cheek,  as  he  bent  to  gather  them  up,  was 
suffused  with  a  deeper  flush  than  the  mere  act  of  stooping 
should  occasion.  It  was  precisely  at  this  moment. that  Kate 
Dal  ton  made  her  appearance. 


^J^i^^ /pz^  ^:.^7-ul^ y6/Lz^  ^l^^^^^ytdf. 


AN  EMBARRASSING  QUESTION.  143 

"What  is  the  matter,  Andy?  "  asked  she,  turning  to  the 
old  man,  who  appeared,  by  his  air  and  attitude,  as  if  deter- 
mined to  guard  the  doorway. 

"Two  spalpeens,  that  want  to  take  the  master;  that's 
what  it  is,"  said  he,  in  a  voice  of  passion. 

"  Your  excellent  old  servant  has  much  mistaken  us.  Miss 
Dal  ton,"  said  Jekyl,  with  his  most  deferential  of  manners. 
"My  friend.  Captain  Onslow,"  —  here  he  moved  his  hand 
towards  George,  who  bowed,  —  "  and  myself,  having  planned 
a  day's  shooting  in  the  '  Moorg,'  have  come  to  request  the 
pleasure  of  Mr.  Dalton's  company." 

"  Oh,  the  thievin'  villains  !  "  muttered  Andy;  "  that's  the 
way  they  '11  catch  him." 

Meanwhile  Kate,  having  promised  to  convey  their  polite 
invitation,  expressed  her  fears  that  her  father's  health  might 
be  unequal  to  the  exertion.  Jekyl  immediately  took  issue 
upon  the  point,  and  hoped,  and  wondered,  and  fancied,  and 
"flattered  himself"  so  much,  that  Kate  at  last  discovered 
she  had  been  drawn  into  a  little  discussion,  when  she  simply 
meant  to  have  returned  a  brief  answer ;  and  while  she  was 
hesitating  how  to  put  an  end  to  an  interview  that  had  already 
lasted  too  long,  Dal  ton  himself  appeared. 

"Is  it  with  me  these  gentlemen  have  their  business?" 
said  he,  angrily,  while  he  rudely  resisted  all  Andy's  endeav- 
ors to  hold  him  back. 

"Oh,  my  dear  Mr.  Dalton,"  said  Jekyl,  warmly,  "it  is 
such  a  pleasure  to  see  you  quite  restored  to  health  again ! 
Here  we  are  —  Captain  Onslow,  Mr.  Dalton  —  thinking  of  a 
little  excursion  after  the  woodcocks  down  the  Moorg  Thai ; 
and  I  have  been  indulging  the  hope  that  you  '11  come  along 
with  us." 

The  very  hint  of  an  attention,  the  merest  suggestion  that 
bordered  on  a  civility,  struck  a  chord  in  old  Dalton's  nature 
that  moved  all  his  sympathies.  It  was  at  once  a  recognition 
of  himself  and  his  ancestry  for  generations  back.  It  was  a 
rehabilitation  of  all  the  Dalton s  of  Mount  Dalton  for  cen- 
turies past ;  and  as  he  extended  a  hand  to  each,  and  invited 
them  to  walk  in,  he  half  felt  himself  at  home  again,  doing 
the  honors  of  his  house,  and  extending  those  hospitalities 
that  had  brought  him  to  beggary. 


144  THE  DALTONS. 

"Are  you  serious  about  the  shooting-party?"  whispered 
Onslow  to  Jekyl,  as  he  walked  forward. 

"Of  course  not.  It's  only  a  'Grecian  horse,'  to  get 
inside  the  citadel." 

"My  daughter,  Miss  Dalton;  Mr.  Jekyl  —  Miss  Kate 
Dalton.     Your  friend's  name,  I  believe,  is — " 

"  Captain  Onslow." 

Lady  Hester  started  at  the  name,  and,  rising,  at  once 
said,  — 

"Oh,  George,  /  must  introduce  you  to  my  fair  friends. 
Miss  Dalton,  this  gentleman  calls  me  '  mamma ; '  or,  at 
least,  if  he  does  not,  it  is  from  politeness.  Captain  Onslow 
—  Mr.  Dalton.  Now,  by  what  fortunate  event  came  you 
here?" 

"  Ought  I  not  to  ask  the  same  question  of  your  Ladyship?  " 
said  George,  archly. 

"  If  you  like ;  only  that,  as  I  asked  first  —  " 

"You  shall  be  answered  first.  Lady  Hester  Onslow, 
allow  me  to  present  Mr.  Albert  Jekyl." 

"Oh,  indeed!"  drawled  out  Lady  Hester,  as,  with  her 
very  coldest  bow,  she  surveyed  Mr.  Jekyl  through  her 
glass,  and  then  turned  away  to  finish  her  conversation  with 
Ellen. 

Jekyl  was  not  the  man  to  feel  a  slight  repulse  as  a  defeat ; 
but,  at  the  same  time,  saw  that  the  present  was  not  the 
moment  to  risk  an  engagement.  He  saw,  besides,*  that,  by 
engaging  Dalton  in  conversation,  he  should  leave  Lady 
Hester  and  Onslow  at  liberty  to  converse  with  the  two  sis- 
ters, and,  by  this  act  of  generosity,  entitle  himself  to  grati- 
tude on  all  sides.  And,  after  all,  among  the  smaller 
martyrdoms  of  this  life,  what  self-sacrifice  exceeds  his  who, 
out  of  pure  philanthropy,  devotes  himself  to  the  "  bore  "  of 
the  party.  Honor  to  him  who  can  lead  the  forlorn  hope  of 
this  stronghold  of  weariness.  Great  be  his  praises  who 
can  turn  from  the  seductive  smiles  of  beauty,  and  the  soft 
voices  of  youth,  and  only  give  eye  and  ear  to  the  tiresome 
and  uninteresting.  High  among  the  achievements  of  un- 
obtrusive heroism  should  this  claim  rank ;  and  if  you  doubt 
it,  my  dear  reader,  if  you  feel  disposed  to  hold  cheaply  such 
darings,  try  it,  —  try  even  for  once.     Take  your  place  beside 


AN  EMBARRASSING  QUESTION. 


145 


that  deaf  old  lady  in  the  light  auburn  wig,  or  draw  your  chair 
near  to  that  elderly  gentleman,  whose  twinkling  gray  eyes 
and  tremulous  lip  bespeak  an  endless  volubility  on  the  score 
of  personal  reminiscences.  Do  this,  too,  within  earshot  of 
pleasant  voices  and  merry  laughter,  —  of  that  tinkling  ripple 
that  tells  of  conversation  flowing  lightly  on,  like  a  summer 
stream,  clear  where  shallow,  and  reflective  where  deep! 
Listen  to  the  wearisome  bead-roll  of  family  fortunes,  —  the 
births,  deaths,  and  marriages  of  those  you  never  saw,  and 
hoped  never  to  see,  —  hear  the  long  narratives  of  past  events, 


^'?l^. 


garbled,  mistaken,  and  misstated,  with  praise  and  censure  ever 
misapplied,  —  and  then,  I  say,  you  will  feel  that,  although 
such  actions  are  not  rewarded  with  red  ribbons  or  blue,  they 
yet  demand  a  moral  courage  and  a  perseverance  that  in 
wider  fields  win  high  distinction. 

Albert  Jekyl  was  a  proficient  in  this  great  art ;  indeed, 
his  powers  developed  themselves  according  to  the  exigency, 
so  that  the  more  insufferably  tiresome  his  companion,  the 
more  seemingly  attentive  and  interested  did  he  become. 
Ilis  features  were,  in  fact,  a  kind  of  "  bore-ometer,"  in 
which,  fi'om  the  liveliness  of  the  expression,  you  might 
calculate  the  stupidity  of  the  tormentor;  and  the  mercury 
of  his  nature  rose,  not  fell,  under  pressure.     And  so  you 

VOL.  I. 10 


146  THE  DALTONS. 

would  have  said  had  you  but  seen  him  that  evening,  as, 
seated  beside  Dalton,  he  heard,  for  hours  long,  how  Irish 
gentlemen  were  ruined  and  their  fortunes  squandered. 
What  jolly  times  they  were  when  men  resisted  the  law 
and  never  feared  a  debt!  Not  that,  while  devouring  all 
the  "  rapparee "  experiences  of  the  father,  he  had  no  eye 
for  the  daughters,  and  did  not  see  what  was  passing 
around  him.  Ay,  that  did  he,  and  mark  well  how  Lady 
Hester  attached  herself  to  Kate  Dalton,  flattered  by  every 
sign  of  her  unbought  admiration,  and  delighted  with  the 
wondering  homage  of  the  artless  girl.  He  watched  On- 
slow, too,  turn  from  the  inanimate  charms  of  Nelly's  sculp- 
tured figures,  to  gaze  upon  the  long  dark  lashes  and  brilliant 
complexion  of  her  sister.  He  saw  all  the  little  comedy  that 
went  on  around  him,  even  to  poor  Nelly's  confusion,  as  she 
assisted  Andy  to  arrange  a  tea-table,  and,  for  the  first  time 
since  their  arrival,  proceed  to  make  use  of  that  little  service 
of  white  and  gold  which,  placed  on  a  marble  table  for  show, 
constitutes  the  invariable  decoration  of  every  humble  Ger- 
man drawing-room.  He  even  overheard  her,  as  she  left  the 
room,  giving  Andy  her  directions  a  dozen  times  over,  how  he 
was  to  procure  the  tea,  and  the  sugar,  and  the  milk,  —  extrav- 
agances she  did  not  syllable  without  a  sigh.  He  saw  and 
heard  everything,  and  rapidly  drew  his  own  inferences,  not 
alone  of  their  poverty,  but  of  their  unfitness  to  struggle 
with  it. 

"  And  yet,  I  'd  wager  these  people,"  said  he  to  himself, 
*'  are  revelling  in  superfluities ;  at  least,  as  compared  to  me! 
But,  so  it  is,  the  rock  that  one  man  ties  round  his  neck,  an- 
other would  make  a  stepping-stone  of !  "  This  satisfactory 
conclusion  gave  additional  sweetness  to  the  bland  smile  with 
which  he  took  his  teacup  from  Nelly's  hand,  while  he  pro- 
nounced the  beverage  the  very  best  he  had  ever  tasted  out 
of  Moscow.     And  so  we  must  leave  the  party. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

COKTRASTS. 

*'  So  you  think,  Grounsell,  I  may  be  able  to  leave  this  in  a 
day  or  two?  "  said  Sir  Stafford,  as,  on  the  day  following  the 
events  we  have  just  related,  he  slowly  walked  up  and  down 
his  dressing-room. 

"By  the  end  of  the  week,  if  the  weather  only  continue 
fine,  we  may  be  on  the  road  again." 

"I'm  glad  of  it,  —  heartily  glad  of  it!  Not  that,  as 
regarded  myself,  it  mattered  much  where  I  was  laid  up  in 
dock;  but  I  find  that  this  isolation,  instead  of  drawing 
the  members  of  my  family  more  closely  together,  has  but 
served  to  widen  the  breach  between  them.  Lady  Hester 
and  Sydney  rarely  meet;  George  sees  neither  of  them, 
and  rarely  comes  near  me,  so  that  the  sooner  we  go  hence 
the  better  for  all  of  us." 

Grounsell  gave  a  dry  nod  of  assent,  without  speaking. 

"  Sydney  is  very  anxious  to  go  and  pass  some  time  with 
her  aunt  Conway;  but  I  foresee  that,  if  I  consent,  the 
difference  between  Lady  Hester  and  her  will  then  become 
an  irreconcilable  quarrel.  You  don't  agree  with  me,  Groun- 
sell?" 

"  I  do  not.  I  never  knew  the  ends  of  a  fractured  bone 
unite  by  grating  them  eternally  against  each  other." 

"  And,  as  for  George,  the  lounging  habits  of  his  service 
and  cigars  have  steeped  him  in  an  indolence  from  which 
there  is  no  emerging.  I  scarcely  know  what  to  do  with 
him." 

"It's  hard  enough  to  decide  upon,"  rejoined  Grounsell; 
"  he  has  some  pursuits,  but  not  one  ambition." 

"  He  has  very  fair  abilities,  certainly,"  said  Sir  Stafford, 
half  peevishly. 

"  Very  fair!  "  nodded  Grounsell. 


148  THE  DALTONS. 

"  A  good  memory,  —  a  quick  apprehension." 

"  He  has  one  immense  deficiency,  for  which  nothing  can 
compensate,"  said  the  doctor,  solemnly. 

"  Application,  — industry?  " 

"  No,  with  his  opportunities  a  great  deal  is  often  acquired 
with  comparatively  light  labor.  I  mean  a  greater  and  more 
important  element." 

"  He  wants  steadiness,  you  think?  " 

"  No ;  I  '11  tell  you  what  he  wants,  —  he  wants  pluck !  " 

Sir  Stafford's  cheek  became  suddenly  crimson,  and  his 
blue  eyes  grew  almost  black  in  the  angry  expression  of  the 
moment. 

"  Pluck,  sir?     My  son  deficient  in  courage?  " 

"  Not  as  you  understand  it  now,"  resumed  Grouusell, 
calmly.  "  He  has  enough,  and  more  than  enough,  to  shoot 
me  or  anybody  else  that  would  impugn  it.  The  quality  I 
mean  is  of  a  very  different  order.  It  is  the  daring  to  do  a 
thing  badly  to-day  in  the  certain  confidence  that  you,  will 
do  it  better  to-morrow,  and  succeed  perfectly  in  it  this 
day  twelvemonth.  He  has  not  pluck  to  encounter  repeated 
failures,  and  yet  return  every  morning  to  the  attack ;  he 
has  not  pluck  to  be  bullied  by  mediocrity  in  the  sure  and 
certain  confidence  that  he  will  live  to  surpass  it ;  in  a  word, 
he  has  not  that  pluck  which  resists  the  dictation  of  inferior 
minds,  and  inspires  self-reliance  through  self-respect." 

"  I  confess  I  cannot  see  that  in  the  station  he  is  likely  to 
occupy  such  qualities  are  at  all  essential,"  said  Sir  Stafford, 
almost  haughtily. 

"Twenty  thousand  a  year  is  a  fine  thing,  and  may  dis- 
pense with  a  great  many  gifts  in  its  possessor ;  and  a  man 
like  myself,  who  never  owned  a  twentieth  of  the  amount, 
may  be  a  precious  bad  judge  of  the  requisites  to  spend  it 
suitably ;  but  I  '11  tell  you  one  thing,  Onslow,  that  organ 
the  phrenologists  call  '  Combativeness '  is  the  best  in  the 
whole  skull." 

"  I  think  your  Irish  friend  Dalton  must  have  been  impart- 
ing some  of  his  native  prejudices  to  you,"  said  Onslow, 
smiling;  "  and,  by  the  way,  when  have  you  seen  him?" 

"  I  went  to  call  there  last  night,  but  I  found  a  tea-party, 
and  did  n't  go  in.     Only  think  of  these  people,  with  beggary 


CONTRASTS.  149 

staring  them  on  every  side,  sending  out  for  '  Caravan  '  tea  at 
I  don't  know  how  many  florins  a  pound." 

*'  I  heard  of  it ;  but  then,  once  and  away  —  " 

"  Once  and  away  !     Ay,  but  once  is  ruin." 

"  Well,  I  hope  Prichard  has  ai-ranged  everything  by  this 
time.  He  has  gone  over  this  morning  to  complete  the 
business ;  so  that  I  trust,  when  we  leave  Baden,  these 
worthy  people  will  be  m  the  enjoyment  of  easier  circum- 
stances." 

"I  see  him  crossing  jover  the  street  now.  I'll  leave  you 
together." 

''No,  no,  Grounsell;  wait  and  hear  his  report;  we  may 
want  your  advice  besides,  for  I  'm  not  quite  clear  that  this 
large  sum  of  arrears  should  be  left  at  Dalton's  untram- 
melled disposal,  as  Mr.  Prichard  intended  it  should  be  a 
test  of  that  excellent  gentleman's  prudence." 

Mr.  Prichard's  knock  was  now  heard  at  the  door,  and 
next  moment  he  entered.  His  pale  countenance  was  slightly 
flushed,  and  in  the  expression  of  his  face  it  might  be  read 
that  he  had  come  from  a  scene  of  unusual  excitement. 

"  I  have  failed,  completely  failed,  Sir  Stafford,"  said  he, 
with  a  sigh,  as  he  seated  himself,  and  threw  a  heavy  roll  of 
paper  on  the  table  before  him. 

As  Sir  Stafford  did  not  break  the  pause  that  followed 
these  words,  Prichard  resumed, — 

"  I  told  you  last  night  that  Mr.  Dalton,  not  being  able 
clearly  to  understand  my  communication,  which  I  own,  to 
prevent  any  searching  scrutiny  on  his  part,  I  did  my  best 
to  envelop  in  a  covering  of  technicalities,  referred  me  to 
his  eldest  daughter,  in  whose  acuteness  he  reposes  much 
confidence.  If  I  was  not  impressed  with  the  difficulty  of 
engaging  such  an  adversary  from  his  description,  still  less 
was  I  on  meeting  with  the  young  lady  this  morning.  A 
very  quietly  mannered,  unassuming  person,  with  consider- 
able good  looks,  which  once  upon  a  time  must  have  been 
actual  beauty,  was  seated  alone  in  the  drawing-room  await- 
ing me.  Her  dress  was  studiously  plain ;  and  were  it  not 
for  an  air  of  great  neatness  throughout,  I  should  perhaps 
call  it  even  poor.  I  mention  all  these  matters  with  a  cer- 
tain prolixity,  because  they  bear  upon  what  ensued. 


160  THE   DALTONS. 

"  Without  waiting  for  me  to  open  my  communication, 
she  began  by  a  slight  apology  for  her  presence  there,  occa- 
sioned, as  she  said,  by  her  father's  ill-health  and  consequent 
incapacity  to  transact  business ;  after  which  she  added  a 
few  words  expressive  of  a  hope  that  I  would  make  my 
statement  in  the  most  simple  and  intelligible  form,  divested 
so  far  as  might  be  of  technical  phraseology,  and  such  as, 
to  use  her  own  words,  a  very  unlettered  person  like  herself 
might  comprehend. 

"This  opening,  I  confess,  somewhat  startled  me;  I 
scarcely  expected  so  much  from  her  father's  daughter ;  but 
I  acquiesced  and  went  on.  As  we  concocted  the  whole 
plot  together  here,  Sir  Stafford,  it  is  needless  that  I  should 
weary  you  by  a  repetition  of  it.  It  is  enough  that  I  say 
I  omitted  nothing  of  plausibility,  either  in  proof  of  the 
bequest,  or  in  the  description  of  the  feeling  that  prompted 
its  fulfilment.  I  descanted  upon  the  happy  event  which,  in 
the  course  of  what  seemed  an  accident,  had  brought  the 
two  families  together,  and  prefaced  their  business  inter- 
course by  a  friendship.  I  adverted  to  the  good  influence 
increased  comforts  would  exercise  upon  her  father's  health. 
I  spoke  of  her  sister  and  her  brother  in  the  fuller  enjoyment 
of  all  that  became  their  name  and  birth.  She  heard  me  to 
the  very  end  with  deep  attention,  never  once  interrupting, 
nor  even  by  a  look  or  gesture  expressing  dissent. 

"  At  last,  when  I  had  concluded,  she  said,  '  This,  then, 
is  a  bequest  ?  ' 

"  I  replied  affirmatively. 

"  '  In  that  case,'  said  she,  '  the  terms  on  which  it  is  con- 
veyed will  solve  all  the  difficulty  of  our  position.  If  my 
uncle  Godfrey  intended  this  legacy  to  be  a  peace-offering, 
however  late  it  has  been  in  coming,  we  should  have  no  hes- 
itation in  accepting  it;  if  he  meant  that  his  generosity 
should  be  trammelled  by  conditions,  or  subject  in  any  way 
to  the  good  pleasure  of  a  third  party,  the  matter  will  have 
a  different  aspect.     Which  is  the  truth?' 

"  I  hesitated  at  this  point-blank  appeal,  so  different  from 
what  I  looked  for,  and  she  at  once  asked  to  see  the  will. 
Disconcerted  still  more,  I  now  prevaricated,  stating  that 
I  had  not   brought  the  document  with   me ;    that  a  memo- 


CONTRASTS.  151 

randum  of  its  provisions  would,  I  had  supposed,  prove 
sufficient ;  and  finally  assured  her  that  acceptance  of  the 
bequest  involved  neither  a  condition  nor  a  pledge. 

"  '  It  may,  however,  involve  an  obligation,  sir,'  said  she, 
firmly.     '  Let  us  learn  if  such  be  the  case.' 

"  'Are  you  so  proud.  Miss  Dalton,'  said  I,  '  that  you  can- 
not even  submit  to  an  obligation  ?  ' 

"  She  blushed  deeply,  and  with  a  weak  voice  answered,  — 

"  '  We  are  too  poor  to  incur  a  debt.' 

"  Seeing  it  was  useless  to  dwell  longer  on  this  part  of 
the  subject,  I  adverted  to  her  father's  increasing  age,  his 
breaking  health,  and  the  necessity  of  affording  him  a 
greater  share  of  comforts ;  but  she  suddenly  stopped  me, 
saying,  — 

"  '  You  may  make  my  refusal  of  this  favor  —  for  such  it 
is,  and  nothing  less  —  a  more  painful  duty  than  I  deemed 
it,  but  you  cannot  alter  my  resolution,  sir.  Poverty,  so 
long  as  it  is  honorable,  has  nothing  mean  nor  undeserving 
about  it,  but  dependence  can  never  bestow  happiness.  It 
is  true,  as  you  say,  that  my  dear  father  might  have  around 
him  many  of  those  little  luxuries  that  he  once  was  used  to ; 
but  with  what  changed  hearts  would  not  his  children  min- 
ister them  to  him?  Where  would  be  that  high  prompting 
sense  of  duty  that  every  self-sacrifice  is  met  by  now? 
Where  that  rich  reward  of  an  approving  spirit  that  lightens 
toil  and  makes  even  weariness  blessed?  Our  humble  for- 
tunes have  linked  us  closer  together;  the  storms  of  the 
world  have  made  us  draw  nearer  to  each  other,  have  given 
us  one  heart,  hope,  and  love  alike.  Leave  us,  then,  to 
struggle  on,  nor  cast  the  gloom  of  dependence  over  days 
that  all  the  ills  of  poverty  could  not  darken.  We  are  happy 
now ;    who  can  tell  what  we  should  become  hereafter  ? ' 

"I  tried  to  turn  her  thoughts  upon  her  brother,  but  she 
quickly  stopped  me,  saying,  — 

"  '  Frank  is  a  soldier;  the  rewards  in  his  career  are  never 
withheld  from  the  deserving;  at  all  events,  wealth  would 
be  unsuitable  to  him.  He  never  knew  but  narrow  fortunes, 
and  the  spirit  that  becomes  a  more  exalted  condition  is  not 
the  growth  of  a  day.' 

"I  next  ventured,  but  with  every  caution  and  delicacy. 


152  THE   DALTONS. 

to  inquire  whether  your  aid  and  influence  might  not  avail 
them  in  any  future  plans  of  life  they  might  form? 

"  '  We  have  no  plans, '  said  she,  simply ;  '  or,  rather,  we 
have  had  so  many  that  they  all  resolve  themselves  into 
mere  castle-building.  My  dear  father  longs  for  Ireland 
again,  —  for  home  as  he  still  calls  it,  —  forgetting  that  we 
have  no  longer  a  home  there.  He  fancies  warm-hearted 
friends  and  neighbors,  —  an  affectionate  people,  attached 
to  the  very  traditions  of  his  name;  but  it  is  now  wiser  to 
feed  this  delusion  than  destroy  it,  by  telling  him  that  few, 
scarcely  one,  of  his  old  companions  still  live,  —  that  other 
influences,  other  fortunes,  other  names,  have  replaced  ours; 
we  should  go  back  there  as  strangers,  and  without  even  the 
stranger's  claim  to  kind  acceptance.  Then,  we  had  thought 
of  the  new  world  beyond  seas;  but  these  are  the  lands  of 
the  young,  the  ardent,  and  the  enterprising,  high  in  hope 
and  resolute  of  heart;  and  so,  at  last,  we  deemed  it  wisest 
to  seek  out  some  quiet  spot,  in  some  quiet  country,  where 
our  poverty  would,  at  least,  present  nothing  remarkable, 
and  there  to  live  for  each  other ;  and  we  are  happy,  —  so 
happy  that,  save  the  passing  dread  that  this  delicious  calm 
of  life  may  not  be  lasting,  we  have  few  sorrows.' 

"Again  and  again  I  tried  to  persuade  her  to  recall  her 
decision,  but  in  vain.  Once  only  did  she  show  anj^  sign 
of  hesitation.  It  was  when  I  charged  her  with  pride  as 
the  reason  of  refusal.  Then  suddenly  her  eyes  filled  up, 
and  her  lip  trembled,  and  such  a  change  came  over  her 
features  that  I  grew  shocked  at  my  own  words. 

"  '  Pride! '  cried  she.  'If  you  mean  that  inordinate  self- 
esteem  that  prefers  isolation  to  s^^mpathy,  that  rejects  an 
obligation  from  mere  haughtiness,  I  know  not  the  feeling. 
Our  pride  is  not  in  our  self-sufficiency,  for  every  step  in  life 
teaches  us  how  much  we  owe  to  others;  but  in  this,  that  low 
in  lot,  and  humble  in  means,  we  have  kept,  and  hope  still 
to  keep,  the  motives  and  principles  that  guided  us  in  hap- 
pier fortunes.  Yes,  you  may  call  us  proud,  for  we  are  so, — 
proud  that  our  poverty  has  not  made  us  mean ;  proud  that 
in  a  strange  land  we  have  inspired  sentiments  of  kindness, 
and  even  of  affection;  proud  that,  without  any  of  the  gifts 
or   graces  which  attract,    we  have  drawn  towards  us  this 


CONTRASTS.  153 

instance  of  noble  generosity  of  which  you  are  now  the  mes- 
senger.    I  am  not  ashamed  to  own  pride  in  all  these. ' 

"To  press  her  further  was  useless;  and  only  asking,  that 
if  by  any  future  change  of  circumstances  she  might  be 
induced  to  alter  her  resolve,  she  would  still  consider  the 
proposition  as  open  to  her  acceptance,  I  took  my  leave." 

"This  is  most  provoking,"  exclaimed  Onslow. 

"Provoking!"  cried  Grounsell;  "you  call  it  provoking! 
That  where  you  sought  to  confer  a  benefit  you  discover  a 
spirit  greater  than  all  the  favors  wealth  ever  gave,  or  ever 
will  give!  A  noble  nature,  that  soars  above  every  accident 
of  fortune,  provoking !  " 

"I  spoke  with  reference  to  myself,"  replied  Onslow, 
tartly;  "and  I  repeat,  it  is  most  provoking  that  I  am 
unable  to  make  a  recompense  where  I  have  unquestionably 
inflicted  a  wrong!" 

"Rather  thank  God  that  in  this  age  of  money-seeking 
and  gold-hunting  there  lives  one  whose  heart  is  uncorrupted 
and  incorruptible,"  cried  Grouusell. 

"If  I  had  not  seen  it  I  could  not  have  believed  it!  "  said 
Prichard. 

"Of  course  not,  sir,"  chimed  in  Grounsell,  bluntly. 
"Yours  is  not  the  trade  where  such  instances  are  frequently 
met  with;  nor  have  I  met  with  many  myself!  " 

"I  beg  to  observe,"  said  Prichard,  mildly,  "that  even 
in  tny  career  I  have  encountered  many  acts  of  high 
generosity." 

"Generosity!  Yes,  I  know  what  that  means.  A  sister 
who  surrenders  her  legacy  to  a  spendthrift  brother;  a  child- 
less widow  that  denies  herself  the  humblest  means  of  com- 
fort to  help  the  ruined  brother  of  her  lost  husband ;  a  wife 
who  places  in  a  reckless  husband's  hand  the  last  little 
remnant  of  fortune  that  was  hoarded  against  the  day  of 
utter  destitution;  and  they  are  always  women  who  do  these 
things,  —  saving,  scraping,  careful  creatures,  full  of  self- 
denial  and  small  economies.  Not  like  your  generous  men, 
as  the  world  calls  them,  whose  free-heartedness  is  nothing 
but  selfishness,  whose  liberality  is  the  bait  to  catch  flat- 
tery. But  it  is  not  of  generosity  I  speak  here.  To  give, 
even  to  one's  last  farthing,  is  far  easier  than  to  refuse  help 


154  THE  DALTONS. 

when  you  are  needy.  To  draw  the  rags  of  poverty  closer, 
to  make  their  folds  drape  decently,  and  hide  the  penury 
within,  —  that  is  the  victory,  indeed." 

"Mark  you,"  cried  Onslow,  laughing,  "it  is  an  old  bach- 
elor says  all  this." 

Grounsell's  face  became  scarlet,  and  as  suddenly  pale  as 
death;  and  although  he  made  an  effort  to  speak,  not  a 
sound  issued  from  his  lips.  For  an  instant  the  pause 
which  ensued  was  unbroken,  when  a  tap  was  heard  at  the 
door.  It  was  a  message  from  Lady  Hester,  requesting,  if 
Sir  Stafford  were  disengaged,  to  be  permitted  to  speak 
with  him. 

"You're  not  going,  Grounsell?"  cried  Sir  Stafford,  as 
he  saw  the  doctor  seize  his  hat;  but  he  hastened  out  of  the 
room  without  speaking,  while  the  lawyer,  gathering  up  his 
papers,  prepared  to  follow  him. 

"We  shall  see  you  at  dinner,  Prichard?"  said  Sir  Staf- 
ford. "I  have  some  hope  of  joining  the  party  myself 
to-day." 

Mr.  Prichard  bowed  his  acknowledgments  and  departed. 

And  now  the  old  baronet  sat  down  to  ponder  in  his  mind 
the  reasons  for  so  strange  an  event  as  a  visit  in  the  fore- 
noon from  Lady  Hester.  "What  can  it  mean?  She  can't 
want  money,"  thought  he;  "  't  is  but  the  other  day  I  sent  her 
a  large  check.  Is  she  desirous  of  going  back  to  England 
again?  Are  there  any  new  disagreements  at  work?"  This 
last  thought  reminded  him  of  those  of  whom  he  had  been  so 
lately  hearing,  —  of  those  whose  narrow  fortunes  had  drawn 
them  nearer  to  each  other,  rendering  them  more  tolerant 
and  more  attached,  while  in  his  own  family,  where  affluence 
prevailed,  he  saw  nothing  but  dissension. 

As  he  sat  pondering  over  this  not  too  pleasant  problem,  a 
tall  and  serious-looking  footman  entered  the  room,  rolling 
before  him  an  armchair.  Another  and  not  less  dignified 
functionary  followed,  with  cushions  and  a  foot-warmer,  — 
signs  which  Sir  Stafford  at  once  read  as  indicative  of  a  long 
intei*view;  for  her  Ladyship's  preparations  were  always 
adopted  with  a  degree  of  forethought  and  care  that  she  very 
rarely  exhibited  in  matters  of  real  consequence. 

Sir  Stafford  was  contemplating  these  august  demonstra- 


CONTRASTS.  165 

tions,  when  the  solemn  voice  of  an  upper  servant  announced 
Lady  Hester;  and,  after  a  second's  pause,  she  swept  into 
the  room  in  all  that  gauzy  amplitude  of  costume  that  gives 
to  the  wearer  a  seeming  necessity  of  inhabiting  the  most 
spacious  apartments  of  a  palace. 

"How  d'ye  do?"  said  she,  languidly,  as  she  sank  down 
into  her  chair.  "I  had  not  the  least  notion  how  far  this 
room  was  off;  if  Clements  has  not  been  taking  me  a  tour 
of  the  whole  house." 

Mr.  Clements,  who  was  still  busily  engaged  in  disposing 
and  arranging  the  cushions,  blandly  assured  her  Ladyship 
that  they  had  come  by  the  most  direct  way. 

"I'm  sorry  for  it,"  said  she,  peevishly,  "for  1  shall 
have  the  more  fatigue  in  going  back  again.  There,  you  're 
only  making  it  worse.  You  never  can  learn  that  I  don't 
want  to  be  propped  up  like  an  invalid.  That  will  do;  you 
may  leave  the  room.  Sir  Stafford,  would  you  be  good 
enough  to  draw  that  blind  a  little  lower?  the  sun  is  directly 
in  my  eyes.  Dear  me,  how  yellow  you  are!  or  is  it  the 
light  in  this  horrid  room?  Am  I  so  dreadfully  bilious- 
looking?  " 

"On  the  contrary,"  said  he,  smiling,  "I  should  pronounce 
you  in  the  most  perfect  enjoyment  of  health." 

"  Oh,  of  course,  I  have  no  doubt  of  that.  I  only  wonder 
you  didn't  call  it  '  rude  health.'  I  cannot  conceive  any- 
thing more  thoroughly  provoking  than  the  habit  of  estimat- 
ing one's  sufferings  by  the  very  efforts  made  to  suppress 
them." 

"Sufferings,  my  dear?  I  really  was  not  aware  that  you 
had  sufferings." 

"I  am  quite  sure  of  that;  nor  is  it  my  habit  to  afflict 
others  with  complaint.  I  'm  sure  your  friend,  Mr,  Groun- 
sell,  would  be  equally  unable  to  acknowledge  their  exist- 
ence. How  I  do  hate  that  man!  and  I  know,  Stafford,  he 
hates  us.  Oh,  you  smile,  as  if  to  say,  '  Only  some  of  us ; ' 
but  I  tell  you  he  detests  us  all,  and  his  old  school-fellow, 
as  he  vulgarly  persists  in  calling  you,  as  much  as  the 
others." 

"  I  sincerely  hope  you  are  mistaken  —  " 

"Polite,  certainly;  you  trust  that  his  dislike  is  limited 


156  THE   DALTONS. 

to  myself.  Not  that,  for  my  own  part,  I  have  the  least 
objection  to  any  amount  of  detestation  with  which  he  may 
honor  me ;  it  is  the  tribute  the  low  and  obscure  invariably 
render  the  well-born,  and  I  am  quite  ready  to  accept  it;  but 
I  own  it  is  a  little  hard  that  I  must  submit  to  the  infliction 
beneath  my  own  roof." 

"My  dear  Hester,  how  often  have  I  assured  you  that  you 
were  mistaken ;  and  that  what  you  regard  as  disrespect  to 
yourself  is  the  roughness  of  an  unpolished  but  sterling 
nature.  The  ties  which  have  grown  up  between  him  and 
me  since  we  were  boys  together  ought  not  to  be  snapped 
for  the  sake  of  a  mere  misunderstanding;  and  if  you  cannot 
or  will  not  estimate  him  for  the  good  qualities  he  unques- 
tionably possesses,  at  least  bear  with  him  for  my  sake." 

"So  1  should,  —  so  I  strive  to  do;  but  the  evil  does  not 
end  there ;  he  inspires  everybody  with  the  same  habits  of 
disrespect  and  indifference.  Did  you  remark  Clements,  a 
few  moments  since,  when  I  spoke  to  him  about  that 
cushion?  " 

"No,  I  can't  say  that  I  did." 

"Why  should  you?  nobody  ever  does  trouble  his  head 
about  anything  that  relates  to  my  happiness!  Well,  I 
remarked  it,  and  saw  the  supercilious  smile  he  assumed 
when  I  told  him  that  the  pillow  was  wrong.  He  looked 
over  at  you^  too,  as  though  to  say,  '  You  see  how  impos- 
sible it  is  to  please  her.'" 

"I  certainly  saw  nothing  of  that." 

"Even  Prichard,  that  formerly  was  the  most  diffident  of 
men,  is  now  so  much  at  his  ease,  so  very  much  at  home  in 
my  presence,  it  is  quite  amusing.  It  was  but  yesterday  he 
asked  me  to  take  wine  with  him  at  dinner.  The  anachro- 
nism was  bad  enough,  but  only  fancy  the  liberty!  " 

"And  what  did  you  do?"  asked  Sir  Stafford,  with  diffi- 
culty repressing  a  smile. 

"  I  affected  not  to  hear,  hoping  he  would  not  expose  him- 
self before  the  servants  by  a  repetition  of  the  request.  But 
he  went  on,  '  Will  your  Ladyship  '  — I  assure  you  he  said 
that  —  '  will  your  Ladyship  do  me  the  honor  to  drink  wine 
with  me?'  I  ntuerely  stared  at  him,  but  never  took  any 
notice  of  his  speech.     Would  you  believe  it?  he  returned 


CONTRASTS.  157 

to  the  charge  again,  and  with  his  hand  on  his  wine-glass, 
began,  '  I  have  taken  the  liberty  —  '  I  could  n't  hear  more; 
so  I  turned  to  George,  and  said,  '  George,  will  you  tell  that 
man  not  to  do  that  ?  '  " 

Sir  Stafford  could  not  restrain  himself  any  longer,  but 
broke  out  into  a  burst  of  hearty  laughter.  "Poor  Prichard," 
said  he,  at  last,  "I  almost  think  I  see  him  before  me!  " 

"You  never  think  of  saying,  '  Poor  Hester,  these  are  not 
the  associates  you  have  been  accustomed  to  live  with!  ' 
But  I  could  be  indifferent  to  all  these  if  my  own  family 
treated  me  with  proper  deference.  As  for  Sydney  and 
George,  however,  they  have  actually  coventried  me;  and 
although  I  anticipated  many  sacrifices  when  I  married, 
this  I  certainly  never  speculated  upon.  Lady  Wallingcroft, 
indeed,  warned  me  to  a  certain  extent  of  what  I  should 
meet  with;  but  I  fondly  hoped  that  disparity  of  years  and 
certain  differences,  the  fruits  of  early  prejudices  and  habits, 
would  be  the  only  drawbacks  on  my  happiness ;  but  I  have 
lived  to  see  my  error!  " 

"The  event  has,  indeed,  not  fulfilled  what  was  expected 
from  it,"  said  Sir  Stafford,  with  a  slow  and  deliberate 
emphasis  on  each  word. 

"Oh,  I  comprehend  you  perfectly,"  said  she,  coloring 
slightly,  and  for  the  first  time  displaying  any  trait  of 
animation  in  her  features.  "You  have  been  as  much  dis- 
appointed as  I  have.  Just  what  my  aunt  Wallingcroft 
prophesied.  '  Remember,'  said  she,  — and  I  'm  sure  I  have 
had  good  cause  to  remember  it,  — '  their  ideas  are  not  our 
ideas ;  they  have  not  the  same  hopes,  ambitions,  or  objects 
that  we  have;  their  very  morality  is  not  our  morality! '  " 

"Of  what  people  or  nation  was  her  Ladyship  speaking?  " 
asked  Sir  Stafford,  mildly. 

"Of  the  City,  generally,"  replied  Lady  Hester,  proudly. 

"Not  in  ignorance,  either,"  rejoined  Sir  Stafford;  "her 
own  father  was  a  merchant  in  Lombard  Street." 

"But  the  family  are  of  the  best  blood  in  Lancashire,  Sir 
Stafford." 

"It  may  be  so;  but  I  remember  Walter  Crofts  himself 
boasting  that  he  had  danced  to  warm  his  feet  on  the  very 
steps  of  the  door  in  Grosvenor   Square  which   afterwards 


158  THE  DALTONS. 

acknowledged  him  as  the  master;  and  as  he  owed  his 
wealth  and  station  to  honest  industry  and  successful  enter- 
prise, none  heard  the  speech  without  thinking  the  better  of 
him." 

"The  anecdote  is  new  to  me,"  said  Lady  Hester,  super- 
ciliously; "and  I  have  little  doubt  that  the  worthy  man  was 
merely  embellishing  an  incident  to  suit  the  tastes  of  his 
compan}'." 

"It  was  the  company  around  his  table,  as  Lord  Mayor  of 
London ! " 

"I  could  have  sworn  it,"  said  she,  laughing;  "but  what 
has  all  this  to  do  with  what  1  wished  to  speak  about  —  if  I 
could  but  remember  what  it  was!  These  eternal  digres- 
sions have  made  me  forget  everything." 

Although  the  appeal  was  palpably  directed  to  Sir  Staf- 
ford, he  sat  silent  and  motionless,  patiently  awaiting  the 
moment  when  recollection  might  enable  her  to  resume. 

"Dear  me!  how  tiresome  it  is!  1  cannot  think  of  what  I 
came  about,  and  you  will  not  assist  me  in  the  least." 

"Up  to  this  moment  you  have  given  me  no  clew  to  it," 
said  Sir  Stafford,  with  a  smile.  "It  was  not  to  speak  of 
Grounsell  ?  " 

"Of  course  not.     I  hate  even  to  think  of  him!  " 

"Of  Prichard,  perhaps?"  he  said,  with  a  half-sly  twinkle 
of  the  eye. 

"Just  as  little!" 

"Possibly  your  friend  Colonel  Haggerstone  was  in  your 
thoughts?  " 

"Pray  do  not  call  him  my  friend.  I  know  very  little  of 
the  gentleman ;  I  intend  even  to  know  less.  I  declined  to 
receive  him  this  morning,  when  he  sent  up  his  card." 

"  An  attention  I  fear  he  has  not  shown  that  poor  creature 
he  wounded,  Grounsell  tells  me." 

"Oh,  I  have  it!"  said  she,  suddenly;  the  allusion  to 
Hans  at  once  recalling  the  Daltons,  and  bringing  to  mind 
the  circumstances  she  desired  to  remember.  "It  was 
exactly  of  these  poor  people  I  came  to  speak.  You  must 
know.  Sir  Stafford,  that  I  have  made  the  acquaintance  of  a 
most  interesting  family  here,  —  a  father  and  two  daughters 
—  named  Dalton  —  " 


CONTRASTS.  159 

"Grounsell  has  already  told  me  so,"  interrupted  Sir 
Stafford. 

"Of  course,  then,  every  step  I  have  taken  in  this  intimacy 
has  been  represented  in  the  most  odious  light.  The  amiable 
doctor  will  have,  doubtless,  imputed  to  me  the  least  worthy 
motives  for  knowing  persons  in  their  station?  " 

"On  the  contrary,  Hester.  If  he  expressed  any  qualifica- 
tion to  the  circumstance,  it  was  in  the  form  of  a  fear  lest 
the  charms  of  your  society  and  the  graces  of  your  manner 
might  indispose  them  to  return  with  patience  to  the  dull 
round  of  their  daily  privations." 

"Indeed!"  said  she,  superciliously.  "A  weak  dose  of 
his  own  acquaintance  would  be,  then,  the  best  antidote  he 
could  advise  them !  But,  really,  I  must  not  speak  of  this 
man;  any  allusion  to  him  is  certain  to  jar  my  nei-ves,  and 
irritate  my  feelings  for  the  whole  day  after.  I  want  to 
interest  you  about  these  Dal  tons." 

"Nothing  more  easy,  my  dear,  since  I  already  know 
something  about  them." 

"The  doctor  being  your  informant,"  said  she,  snappishly. 

"No,  no,  Hester;  many,  many  years  ago,  certain  relations 
existed  between  us,  and  I  grieve  to  say  that  Mr.  Dalton  has 
reason  to  regard  me  in  no  favorable  light;  and  it  was  but 
the  very  moment  I  received  your  message  I  was  learning 
from  Prichard  the  failure  of  an  effort  I  had  made  to  repair 
a  wrong.  I  will  not  weary  you  with  a  long  and  a  sad 
story,  but  briefly  mention  that  Mr.  Dalton's  late  wife  was  a 
distant  relative  of  my  own." 

"Yes,  yes;  I  see  it  all.  There  was  a  little  love  in  the 
business,  —  an  old  flame  revived  in  after  life;  nothing 
serious,  of  course  —  but  jealousies  and  misconstructions  — 
to  any  extent.  Dear  me,  and  that  was  the  reason  she  died 
of  a  broken  heart!  "  It  was  hard  to  say  if  Sir  Stafford  was 
more  amused  at  the  absurdity  of  this  imputation,  or  stung 
by  the  cool  indifference  with  which  she  uttered  it;  nor  was  it 
easy  to  know  how  the  struggle  within  him  would  tenninate, 
when  she  went  on:  "It  does  appear  so  silly  to  see  a  pair  of 
elderly  gentlemen  raking  up  a  difference  out  of  an  amourette 
of  the  past  century.  You  are  very  fortunate  to  have  so 
quiet  a  spot  to  exhibit  in!" 


160  THE   DALTONS. 

"I  am  sorry  to  destroy  an  illusion  so  very  full  of  amuse- 
ment, Lady  Hester;  but  I  owe  it  to  all  parties  to  say  that 
your  pleasant  fancy  has  not  even  the  shadow  of  a  color.  I 
never  even  saw  Mrs.  Dalton ;  never  have  yet  met  her  hus- 
band. The  event  to  which  I  was  about  to  allude,  when  you 
interrupted  me,  related  to  a  bequest — " 

"Oh,  I  know  the  whole  business,  now!  It  was  at  your 
suit  that  dreadful  mortgage  was  foreclosed,  and  these  dear 
people  were  driven  away  from  their  ancient  seat  of  Mount 
Dalton.  I  'm  sure  I  've  heard  the  story  at  least  ten  times 
over,  but  never  suspected  that  j'our  name  was  mixed  up  with 
it.  1  do  assure  you.  Sir  Stafford,  that  they  have  never 
dropped  the  most  distant  hint  of  you  in  connection  with 
that  sad  episode." 

"They  have  been  but  just.  Lady  Hester,"  said  he,  gravely. 
"I  never  did  hold  a  mortgage  over  this  property;  still  less 
exercised  the  severe  right  you  speak  of.  But  it  is  quite 
needless  to  pursue  a  narrative  that  taxes  your  patience  so 
severely;  enough  to  say,  that  through  Prichard's  mediation 
I  have  endeavored  to  persuade  Mr.  Dalton  that  I  was  the 
trustee,  under  a  will,  of  a  small  annuity  on  his  life.  He 
has  peremptorily  refused  to  accept  it,  although,  as  I  am 
informed,  living  in  circumstances  of  great  poverty." 

"  Poor  they  must  be,  certainly.  The  house  is  wretchedly 
furnished,  and  the  girls  wear  such  clothes  as  I  never  saw 
before;  not  that  they  are  even  the  worn  and  faded  finery  of 
better  days,  but  actually  the  coarse  stuffs  such  as  the  peas- 
ants wear!  " 

"So  I  have  heard." 

"Not  even  an  edging  of  cheap  lace  round  their  collars; 
not  a  bow  of  ribbon;  not  an  ornament  of  the  humblest 
kind  about  them." 

"And  both  handsome,  I  am  told?  " 

"The  younger,  beautiful!  —  the  deepest  blue  eyes  in  the 
world,  with  long  fringed  lashes,  and  the  most  perfect  mouth 
you  can  imagine.  The  elder  very  pretty,  too,  but  sad- 
looking,  for  she  has  a  fearful  lameness,  poor  thing!  They 
say  it  came  from  a  fall  off  a  horse,  but  I  suspect  it  must 
have  begun  in  infancy;  one  of  those  dreadful  things  they 
call  '  spine.'     Like  all  persons  in  her  condition,  she  is  mon- 


CONTRASTS.  161 

strously  clever;  carves  the  most  beautiful  little  groups  in 
boxwood,  and  models  in  clay  and  plaster.  She  is  a  dear, 
mild,  gentle  thing;  but  I  suspect  with  all  that  infirmity 
of  temper  that  comes  of  long  illness  —  at  least,  she  is  sel- 
dom in  high  spirits  like  her  sister.  Kate,  the  younger  girl, 
is  my  favorite;  a  fine,  generous,  warm-hearted  creature, 
full  of  life  and  animation,  and  so  fond  of  me  already." 

If  Sir  Stafford  did  not  smile  at  the  undue  emphasis  laid 
upon  the  last  few  words,  it  was  not  that  he  had  not  read 
their  full  significance. 

"And  Mr.  Dalton  himself,  — what  is  he  like?  " 

"Like  nothing  I  ever  met  before;  the  oddest  mixture  of 
right  sentiments  and  wrong  inferences;  of  benevolence, 
cruelty,  roughness,  gentleness;  the  most  refined  considera- 
tion, and  the  most  utter  disregard  for  other  people  and  their 
feelings,  that  ever  existed.  You  never  can  guess  what  will 
be  his  sentiments  at  any  moment,  or  on  any  subject,  except 
on  the  question  of  family,  when  his  pride  almost  savors  of 
insanity.  I  believe,  in  his  own  country,  he  would  be  noth- 
ing strange  nor  singular;  but  out  of  it,  he  is  a  figure 
unsuited  to  any  landscape." 

"It  is  hard  to  say  how  much  of  this  peculiarity  may  have 
come  of  adverse  fortune,"  said  Sir  Stafford,  thoughtfully. 

"I  *m  certain  he  was  always  the  same;  at  least,  it  would 
be  impossible  to  imagine  him  anything  different.  But  I 
have  not  come  to  speak  of  him,  but  of  his  daughter  Kate, 
in  whom  I  am  deeply  interested.  You  must  know,  Sir 
Stafford,  that  I  have  formed  a  little  plan,  for  which  I  want 
your  aid  and  concurrence.  It  is  to  take  this  dear  girl  along 
with  us  to  Italy." 

"Take  her  to  Italy!  In  what  position.  Lady  Hester? 
You  surely  never  intended  any  menial  station?" 

"  Of  course  not ;  a  kind  of  humble  friend  —  what  they 
call  a  '  companion  '  in  the  newspapers  —  to  have  always 
with  one.  She  is  exactly  the  creature  to  dissipate  low 
spirits  and  banish  ennui,  and,  with  the  advantages  of  train- 
ing and  teaching,  will  become  a  most  attractive  girl.  As  it 
is,  she  has  not  been  quite  neglected.  Her  French  accent 
is  very  pure;  German,  I  conclude,  she  talks  fluently;  she 
plays  prettily,  —  at  least,  as  well  as  one  can  judge  on  that 

VOL.  I.  — 11 


162  THE  DALTONS. 

vile  tinkling  old  harpsichord,  whose  legs  dance  every  time 
it  is  touched,  —  and  sings  very  pleasingly  those  little  Ger- 
man ballads  that  are  now  getting  into  fashion.  In  fact,  it 
is  the  tone  of  society  —  that  mannerism  of  the  world  —  she 
is  deficient  in  more  than  anything  else." 

"She  certainly  could  not  study  in  a  better  school  than 
yours,  Lady  Hester;  but  I  see  some  very  great  objections 
to  the  whole  scheme,  and  without  alluding  to  such  as  relate 
to  ourselves,  but  simply  those  that  regard  the  young  lady 
herself.  Would  it  be  a  kindness  to  withdraw  her  from  the 
sphere  wherein  she  is  happy  and  contented,  to  mingle  for  a 
season  or  so  in  another  and  very  different  rank,  contracting 
new  habits  of  thought,  new  ideas,  new  associations,  learn- 
ing each  day  to  look  down  upon  that  humble  lot  to  which 
she  must  eventually  return?" 

"  She  need  not  return  to  it.  She  is  certain  to  marry,  and 
marry  well.  A  girl  with  so  many  attractions  as  she  will 
possess  may  aspire  to  a  very  high  match  indeed!" 

"This  is  too  hazardous  a  game  of  life  to  please  my 
fancy,"  said  Sir  Stafford,  dubiously.  "We  ought  to  look 
every  contingency  in  the  face  in  such  a  matter  as  this." 

"I  have  given  the  subject  the  very  deepest  consideration," 
replied  Lady  Hester,  authoritatively.  "I  have  turned  the 
question  over  and  over  in  my  mind,  and  have  not  seen  a 
single  difficulty  for  which  there  is  not  an  easy  remedy." 

"Sydney  certainly  ought  to  be  consulted." 

"I  have  done  so  already.  She  is  charmed  with  the 
project.  She  sees,  perhaps,  how  few  companionable  quali- 
ties she  herself  possesses,  and  anticipates  that  Miss  Dalton 
will  supply  that  place  towards  me  that  she  is  too  indolent 
and  too  indifferent  to  fill." 

"How  would  the  family  receive  such  a  proposition? 
They  seem  to  be  very  proud.  Is  it  likely  that  they  would 
listen  to  a  project  of  this  nature?" 

"There  lies  the  only  difficulty;  nor  need  it  be  an  insuper- 
able one,  if  we  manage  cleverly.  The  affair  will  require 
delicate  treatment,  because  if  we  merely  invite  her  to  accom- 
pany us,  they  will  naturally  enough  decline  an  invitation, 
to  comply  with  which  would  involve  a  costly  outlay  in 
dress  and  ornament,  quite  impossible  in  their  circumstances. 


CONTRASTS.  163 

Thi8  must  be  a  matter  of  diplomacy,  of  which  the  first  step 
is,  however,  already  taken." 

"The  first  step!     How  do  you  mean?  " 

"Simply,  that  I  have  already,  but  in  the  deepest  confi- 
dence, hinted  the  possibility  of  the  project  to  Kate  Dalton, 
and  she  is  wild  with  delight  at  the  bare  thought  of  it.  The 
dear  child!  with  what  rapture  she  heard  me  speak  of  the 
balls,  and  fetes^  and  theatres  of  the  great  world!  of  the 
thousand  fascinations  society  has  in  store  for  all  who  have 
a  rightful  claim  to  its  homage,  the  tribute  rendered  to 
beauty,  greater  than  that  conceded  to  rank  or  genius  itself! 
I  told  her  of  all  these,  and  I  showed  her  my  diamonds !  " 

Sir  Stafford  made,  involuntarily,  a  slight  gesture  with  his 
hand,  as  though  to  say,  "This  last  was  the  coup  de  grace" 

"So  far,  then,  as  Kate  is  concerned,  she  will  be  a  willing 
ally;  nor  do  I  anticipate  any  opposition  from  her  quiet, 
submissive  sister,  who  seems  to  dote  upon  her.  The  papa, 
indeed,  is  like  to  prove  refractory;  but  this  must  be  our 
business  to  overcome." 

Lady  Hester,  who  at  the  opening  of  the  interview  had 
spoken  with  all  the  listlessness  of  ennui^  had  gradually 
worked  herself  up  to  a  species  of  ardor  that  made  her 
words  flow  rapidly,  —  a  sign  well  known  to  Sir  Stafford 
that  her  mind  was  bent  upon  an  object  that  would  not 
admit  of  gainsay.  Some  experience  had  taught  him  the 
impolicy  of  absolute  resistance,  and  trained  him  to  a  tactic 
of  waiting  and  watching  for  eventualities,  which,  whether 
the  campaign  be  civil,  military,  or  conjugal,  is  not  without 
a  certain  degree  of  merit.  In  the  present  case  there  were 
several  escape-valves.  The  Daltons  were  three  in  number, 
and  should  be  unanimous.  All  the  diflSculties  of  the  plan 
should  be  arranged,  not  alone  to  their  perfect  satisfaction, 
but  without  a  wound  to  their  delicacy.  Grounsell  was 
certain  to  be  a  determined  opponent  to  the  measure,  and 
would,  of  course,  be  consulted  upon  it.  And,  lastly,  if 
everything  worked  well  and  favorably.  Lady  Hester  herself 
was  by  no  means  certain  to  wish  for  it  the  day  after  she 
had  conquered  all  opposition. 

These,  and  many  similar  reasons,  showed  Sir  Stafford 
that  he   might  safely  concede   a  concurrence    that    need 


164  THE  DALTONS. 

never  become  practical,  and  making  a  merit  of  his  necessity, 
he  affected  to  yield  to  arguments  that  had  no  value  in  his 
eyes. 

"How  do  you  propose  to  open  the  campaign,  Hester?" 
asked  he,  after  a  pause. 

"I  have  arranged  it  all,"  said  she,  with  animation.  "We 
must  visit  the  Daltons  together,  or  —  better  still  —  you  shall 
go  alone.  No,  no ;  a  letter  will  be  the  right  thing,  —  a 
very  carefully  written  letter,  that  shall  refute  by  anticipa- 
tion every  possible  objection  to  the  plan,  and  show  the 
Daltons  the  enormous  advantages  they  must  derive  from  it." 

"As,  for  instance?"  said  Sir  Stafford,  with  apparent 
anxiety  to  be  instructed. 

"Enormous  they  certainly  will  be! "  exclaimed  she. 
"First  of  all,  Kate,  as  I  have  said,  is  certain  to  marry 
well,  and  will  be  thus  in  a  position  to  benefit  the  others, 
who,  poor  things,  can  do  nothing  for  themselves." 

"Very  true,  my  dear, — very  true.  You  see  all  these 
things  far  more  rapidly  and  more  clearly  than  I  do." 

"  I  have  thought  so  long  and  so  much  about  it,  I  suppose 
there  are  few  contingencies  of  the  case  have  escaped  me; 
and  now  that  I  learn  how  you  once  knew  and  were  attached 
to  the  poor  girl's  mother  —  " 

"I  am  sorry  to  rob  you  of  so  harmless  an  illusion,"  inter- 
rupted he,  smiling;  "but  I  have  already  said  I  never  saw 
her." 

"  Oh,  you  did  say  so !  I  forget  all  about  it.  Well,  there 
was  something  or  other  that  brought  the  families  in  relation, 
no  matter  what,  and  it  must  be  a  great  satisfaction  to  you 
to  see  the  breach  restored,  and  through  my  intervention, 
too;  for  I  must  needs  say,  Sir  Stafford,  there  are  many 
women  who  would  entertain  a  silly  jealousy  respecting  one 
who  once  occupied  the  first  place  in  their  husband's 
esteem." 

"Must  I  once  more  assure  you  that  this  whole  assump- 
tion is  groundless;  that  I  never  — " 

"Quite  enough;  more  than  I  ask  for, — more  than  I 
have  any  right  to  ask  for,"  broke  she  in.  "If  you  did  not 
interrupt  me,  —  and  pardon  me  if  I  say  that  this  habit  of 
yours  is  calculated  to  produce  innumerable  misconceptions. 


CONTRASTS.  165 

—  I  say  that,  if  I  had  not  been  interrupted,  I  would  have 
told  you  that  I  regard  such  jealousies  as  most  mean  and 
unworthy.  We  cannot  be  the  arbiters  of  our  affections  any 
more  than  of  our  fortunes;  and  if  in  early  life  we  may 
have  formed  attachments  —  imprudent  attachments  —  " 
Here  her  Ladyship,  who  had  unwittingly  glided  from  the 
consideration  of  Sir  Stafford's  case  to  that  of  her  own, 
became  confused  and  flurried,  her  cheek  flushing  and  her 
chest  heaving.  She  looked  overwhelmed  with  embarrass- 
ment, and  it  was  only  after  a  long  struggle  to  regain  the 
lost  clew  to  her  discourse  she  could  falteringly  say,  "Don't 
you  agree  with  me?     I  'm  sure  you  agree  with  me." 

"I  'm  certain  I  should  if  I  only  understood  you  aright," 
said  he,  good-naturedly,  and  by  his  voice  and  look  at  once 
reassuring  her. 

"Well,  so  far,  all  is  settled,"  said  she,  rising  from  her 
chair.  "And  now  for  this  letter;  I  conclude  the  sooner  it 
be  done  the  better.  When  may  we  hope  to  get  away  from 
this  dreary  place?" 

"Grounsell  tells  me,  by  Friday  or  Saturday  next  I  shall 
be  able  for  the  journey." 

"If  it  had  not  been  to  provoke  me,  I  'm  certain  he  would 
have  pronounced  you  quite  well  ten  days  ago." 

"You  forget,  Hester,  my  own  sensations  —  not  to  say 
sufferings  —  could  scarcely  deceive  me." 

"  On  the  contrary.  Dr.  Clarus  assured  me  there  is 
nothing  in  the  world  so  very  deceptive ;  that  pain  is  only 
referred  to  the  diseased  part  by  the  brain,  and  has  no 
existence  whatever,  and  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as 
pain  at  all.  He  explained  it  perfectly,  and  I  understood 
it  all  at  the  time.  He  is  so  clever.  Dr.  Clarus,  and 
gives  people  such  insight  into  the  nature  of  their  malady, 
that  it  really  becomes  quite  interesting  to  be  ill  under  his 
care.  I  remember  when  William,  the  footman,  broke  his 
arm,  Clarus  used  to  see  him  every  day ;  and  to  show  that 
no  union,  as  it  is  called,  could  take  place  so  long  as  motion 
continued,  he  would  gently  grate  the  fractured  ends  of  the 
bone  together." 

"  And  was  William  convinced  of  the  no-pain  doctrine?" 
cried  Sir  Stafford,  his  cheek  flashing  with  momentary  anger. 


166  THE  DALTONS. 

"  The  ignorant  creature  actually  screamed  out  every  time  he 
was  touched  ;  but  Clarus  said  it  would  take  at  least  two  cen- 
turies to  conquer  the  prejudices  of  the  common  people." 

"  Not  improbable,  either !  "  said  Sir  Stafford. 

"Dear  me,  how  very  late  it  is '."cried  she,  suddenly; 
"  and  we  dine  at  six ! "  And  with  a  graceful  motion  of 
the  hand,  she  said,  "By-by!"  and  left  the  room. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE  "  SAAL  "  OF  THE    "  RUSSIE." 

Has  the  observant  reader  ever  remarked  a  couple  of  persons 
parading  the  deck  of  a  ship  at  sea,  —  walking  step  for  step 
through  half  a  day,  turning  with  the  same  short  jerk,  to 
resume  the  same  short  path,  and  yet  never  interchanging  a 
word,  the  rhythm  of  the  footfall  the  only  tie  of  companion- 
ship between  them  ?  They  halt  occasionally,  too,  to  look  over 
the  bulwarks  at  some  white  sail  far  away,  or  some  cloud-bank 
rising  from  the  horizon ;  mayhap  they  linger  to  watch  the 
rolling  porpoises  as  they  pass,  or  the  swift  nautilus  as  he 
glides  along ;  but  yet  never  a  sound  nor  token  of  mutual 
intelligence  escapes  them.  It  is  enough  that  they  live  sur- 
rounded by  the  same  influences,  breathe  the  same  air,  and 
step  in  the  same  time ;  they  have  their  separate  thoughts, 
wide,  perhaps,  as  the  poles  asunder,  and  yet  by  some  strange 
magnetism  they  feel  there  is  a  kind  of  sociality  in  their  speech- 
less intercourse. 

From  some  such  cause,  perhaps,  it  was  that  Colonel  Hag- 
gerstone  and  Jekyl  took  their  accustomed  walk  in  the  dreary 
dining-room  of  the  "  H6tel  de  Russie."  The  evening  was 
cold  and  cheerless,  as  on  that  when  first  we  met  them  there, 
—  a  drifting  rain,  mingled  with  sleet,  beat  against  the  win- 
dows, and  the  wind,  in  mournful  cadences,  sighed  along  the 
dreary  and  deserted  corridors.  It  was  a  comfortless  scene 
within  doors  and  without.  A  chance  glance  through  the 
window,  an  occasional  halt  to  listen  when  the  thunder 
rolled  louder  and  nearer,  showed  that,  to  a  certain  extent, 
the  same  emotions  were  common  to  each ;  but  nothing  else 
betrayed  any  community  of  sentiment  between  them,  as  they 
paced  the  room  from  end  to  end. 

"  English  people  come  abroad  for  climate !  "  said  Hagger- 
stone,  as  he  buttoned  his  collar  tightly  around  his  neck,  and 


168  THE  DALTONS. 

pressed  his  hat  more  firmly  on  his  head.  "  But  who  ever  saw 
the  like  of  this  in  England  ?  " 

"In  England  you  have  weather,  but  no  climate!"  said 
Jekyl,  with  one  of  his  little  smiles  of  self-approval ;  for  he 
caressed  himself  when  he  uttered  a  mot^  and  seemed  to  feel 
no  slight  access  of  self-satisfaction. 

"It's  not  the  worst  thing  we  have  there,  sir,  I  promise 
you,"  rejoined  Haggerstone,  authoritatively. 

"  Our  coughs  and  rheumatics  are,  indeed,  sore  drawbacks 
upon  patriotism." 

"  I  do  not  speak  of  them^  sir;  I  allude  to  our  insolent, 
overbearing  aristocracy,  who,  sprung  from  the  people  as 
they  are,  recruited  from  the  ranks  of  trade  or  law,  look 
down  upon  the  really  ancient  blood  of  the  land,  — the  un- 
titled nobility.  Who  are  they,  sir,  that  treat  us  thus?  The 
fortunate  speculator,  who  has  amassed  a  million ;  the  At- 
torney-General, who  has  risen  to  a  Chief-Justiceship ;  men 
without  ancestry,  without  landed  influence ;  a  lucky  banker, 
perhaps,  like  our  friend  upstau-s,  may  stand  in  the  '  Gazette ' 
to-morrow  or  next  day  as  Baron  or  Viscount,  without  one 
single  requirement  of  the  station,  save  his  money." 

"  I  confess,  if  I  have  a  weakness,  it  is  for  lords,"  said 
Jekyl,  simperingly.  "  I  suppose  I  must  have  caught  it 
very  early  in  life,  for  it  clings  to  me  like  an  instinct." 

"  I  feel  happy  to  avow  that  I  have  none,  sir.  Six  cen- 
turies of  gentry  blood  suffice  for  all  my  ambitions;  but  I 
boil  over  when  I  see  the  overweening  presumption  of  these 
new  people." 

"After  all,  new  people,  like  a  new  watch,  a  new  coat, 
and  a  new  carriage,  have  the  best  chance  of  lasting.  Old 
and  worn  out  are  very  nearly  convertible  terms." 

"These  are  sentiments,  sir,  which  would,  doubtless,  do 
you  excellent  service  with  the  family  upstairs,  but  are 
quite  thrown  away  upon  such  a  mere  country  gentleman  as 
myself." 

Jekyl  smiled,  and  drew  up  his  cravat,  with  his  habitual 
simpering  air,  but  said  nothing. 

"Do  you  purpose  remaining  much  longer  here?"  asked 
Haggerstone,  abruptly. 

"  A  few  days,  at  most." 


THE  "SAAL"  OF  THE  "RUSSIE."  169 

"  Do  you  turn  north  or  south?  " 

"  I  fancy  I  shall  winter  in  Italy." 

"  The  Onslows,  I  believe,  are  bound  for  Rome?" 

"  Can't  say,"  was  the  short  reply. 

"Just  the  sort  of  people  for  Italy.  The  fashionables  of 
what  the  Chinese  call  '  second  chop '  go  down  admirably  at 
Rome  or  Naples." 

"  Very  pleasant  places  they  are,  too,"  said  Jekyl,  with 
a  smile.  "  The  climate  permits  everything,  —  even  dubious 
intimacies." 

Haggerstone  gave  a  short  "Ha!"  at  the  heresy  of  this 
speech,  but  made  no  other  comment  on  it. 

"They  say  that  Miss  Onslow  will  have  about  a  hundred 
thousand  pounds  ? "  said  Haggerstone,  with  an  air  of 
inquiry. 

"What  a  deal  of  maccaroni  and  parmesan  that  sum 
would  buy !  " 

"  "Would  you  have  her  marry  an  Italian,  sir?  " 

"  Perhaps  not,  if  she  were  to  consult  me  on  the  matter," 
said  Jekyl,  blandly;  "but  as  this  is,  to  say  the  least,  not 
very  probable,  I  may  own  that  I  like  the  mixed  marriages 
well  enough." 

"They  make  miserable  menages,  sir,"  broke  in  Hagger- 
stone. 

"But  excessively  agreeable  houses  to  visit  at." 

"The  Onslows  are  scarcely  the  people  to  succeed  in  that 
way,"  rejoined  Haggerstone,  whose  thoughts  seemed  to 
revolve  round  this  family  without  any  power  to  wander 
from  the  theme.  "Mere  money,  —  nothing  but  money  to 
guide  them." 

"  Not  a  bad  pilot,  either,  as  times  go." 

Haggerstone  uttered  another  short,  ' '  Ha !  "  as  though  to 
enter  a  protest  against  the  sentiment  without  the  trouble  of 
a  refutation.  He  had  utterly  failed  in  all  his  efforts  to  draw 
Jekyl  into  a  discussion  of  the  banker's  family,  or  even 
obtain  from  that  excessively  cautious  young  gentleman  the 
slightest  approach  to  an  opinion  about  them;  and  yet  it 
was  exactly  in  search  of  this  opinion  that  he  had  come 
down  to  take  his  walk  that  evening.  It  was  in  the  hope 
that  Jekyl   might   afford  him  some  clew  to  these  people's 


170  THE  DALTONS.  — 

thoughts,  or  habits,  or  their  intentions  for  the  coming  winter, 
that  he  had  promenaded  for  the  last  hour  and  a  half.  "  If 
he  know  anything  of  them,"  thought  Haggerstone,  "  he 
will  be  but  too  proud  to  show  it,  and  display  the  intimacy 
to  its  fullest  extent !  " 

It  was,  then,  to  his  utter  discomfiture,  he  learned  that 
Jekyl  had  scarcely  spoken  to  Lady  Hester,  and  never  even 
seen  Sir  Stafford  or  Miss  Onslow.  It  was,  then,  pure  in- 
vention of  the  waiter  to  say  that  they  were  acquainted. 
"Jekyl  has  done  nothing,"  muttered  he  to  himself,  "and 
I  suppose  I  need  not  throw  away  a  dinner  upon  him  to 
tell  it." 

Such  were  his  reasonings ;  ana  long  did  he  balance  in 
his  own  mind  whether  it  were  worth  while  to  risk  a  bottle 
of  Burgundy  in  such  a  cause ;  for  often  does  it  happen  that 
the  fluid  thrown  down  the  pump  is  utterly  wasted,  and  that 
it  is  vain  to  moisten  the  sucker,  if  the  well  beneath  be 
exhausted. 

To  be,  or  not  to  be?  was  then  the  eventful  point  he 
deliberated  with  himself.  Haggerstone  never  threw  away 
a  dinner  in  his  life.  He  was  not  one  of  those  vulgarly 
minded  folk  who  ask  you,  in  a  parenthesis,  to  come  in  to 
"  manger  la  soupe,"  as  they  say,  without  more  prepara- 
tion than  the  spreading  of  your  napkin.  No ;  he  knew  all 
the  importance  of  a  dinner,  and,  be  it  acknowledged,  how 
to  give  it  also,  and  could  have  distinguished  perfectly  be- 
tween the  fare  to  set  before  an  "habitual  diner  out,"  and 
that  suitable  to  some  newly  arrived  Englishman  abroad : 
he  could  have  measured  his  guest  to  a  truffle !  It  was  his 
boast  that  he  never  gave  a  pheasant  when  a  poulet  would 
have  sufficed,  nor  wasted  his  "  Chablis  "  on  the  man  who 
would  have  been  contented  with  "  Barsac." 

The  difficulty  was  not,  then,  how  to  have  treated  Jekyl, 
but  whether  to  treat  him  at  all.  Indeed,  the  little  dinner 
itself  had  been  all  planned  and  arranged  that  morning  ;  and 
the  "trout'  from  the  "Murg,"  and  the  grouse  from  Eber- 
stein,  had  been  "  pricked  off,"  in  the  bill  of  fare,  for  "  No. 
24,"  as  he  was  unceremoniously  designated,  with  a  special 
order  about  the  dish  of  whole  truffles  with  butter,  in  the  fair 
intention  of  inviting  Mr.  Albert  Jekyl  to  partake  of  them. 


THE  "SAAL"  OF  THE  "RUSSIE."  171 

If  a  lady  reveals  some  latent  desire  of  conquest  in  the 
coquetry  of  her  costume  and  the  more  than  ordinary  care 
of  her  appearance,  so  your  male  friend  may  be  suspected 
of  a  design  upon  your  confidence  or  your  liberality  by  the 
studious  propriety  of  his  petit  diner.  Never  fall  into  the 
vulgar  error  that  such  things  are  mere  accident.  As  well 
ascribe  to  chance  the  rotations  of  the  seasons,  or  the  motions 
of  the  heavenly  bodies.  Your  printaniere  in  January, 
your  epigramme  d'agneau  with  asparagus  at  Christmas,  show 
a  solicitude  to  please  to  the  full  as  ardent,  and  not  a  whit  less 
sincere,  than  the  soft  glances  that  have  just  set  your  heart 
a-beating  from  the  recesses  of  yonder  opera-box. 

"Will  you  eat  your  cutlet  with  me  to-day,  Mr.  Jekyl?" 
said  Haggerstone,  after  a  pause,  in  which  he  had  weighed 
long  and  well  all  the  pros  and  cons  of  the  invitation. 

"  Thanks,  but  I  dine  with  the  Onslows !  "  lisped  out  Jekyl, 
with  a  languid  indifference,  that  however  did  not  prevent 
his  remarking  the  almost  incredulous  amazement  in  the 
colonel's  face ;  "  and  I  perceive,"  added  he,  "  that  it 's  time 
to  dress." 

Haggerstone  looked  after  him  as  he  left  the  room ;  and 
then  ringing  the  bell  violently,  gave  orders  to  his  servant  to 
"  pack  up,"  for  he  would  leave  Baden  next  morning. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

A    FAMILY   DISCUSSION. 

Something  more  than  a  week  after  the  scenes  we  have  just 
related  had  occurred,  the  Daltons  were  seated  round  the  fire, 
beside  which,  in  the  place  of  honor,  in  an  old  armchair, 
propped  by  many  a  cushion,  reclined  Hans  Roeckle.  A 
small  lamp  of  three  burners  —  such  as  the  peasants  use  — 
stood  upon  the  table,  of  which  only  one  was  lighted,  and 
threw  its  fitful  gleam  over  the  board,  covered  by  the  mate- 
rials of  a  most  humble  meal.  Even  this  was  untasted  ;  and 
it  was  easy  to  mark  in  the  downcast  and  depressed  counte- 
nances of  the  group  that  some  deep  care  was  weighing  upon 
them. 

Dalton  himself,  with  folded  arms,  sat  straight  opposite  the 
fire,  his  heavy  brows  closely  knit,  and  his  eyes  staring 
fixedly  at  the  blaze,  as  if  expecting  some  revelation  of  the 
future  from  it ;  an  open  letter,  which  seemed  to  have  dropped 
from  his  hand,  was  lying  at  his  feet.  Nelly,  with  bent- 
down  head,  was  occupied  in  arranging  the  little  tools  and 
implements  she  was  accustomed  to  use  in  carving ;  but  in 
the  tremulous  motion  of  her  fingers,  and  the  short,  quick 
heaving  of  her  chest,  might  be  read  the  signs  of  a  struggle 
that  cost  heavily  to  subdue. 

Half-concealed  beneath  the  projection  of  the  fireplace  sat 
Kate  Dalton  —  she  was  sewing.  Although  to  all  seeming 
intent  upon  her  work,  more  than  once  did  her  fingers  drop 
the  needle  to  wipe  the  gushing  tears  from  her  eyes,  while  at 
intervals  a  short  sob  would  burst  forth,  and  break  the  still- 
ness around. 

As  for  Hans,  he  seemed  lost  in  a  dreamy  revery,  from 
which  he  rallied  at  times  to  smile  pleasantly  at  a  little 
wooden  figure  —  the  same  which  occasioned  his  disaster  — 
placed  beside  him. 


A  FAMILY  DISCUSSION.  173 

There  was  an  air  of  sadness  over  everything ;  and  even 
the  old  spaniel,  Joan,  as  she  retreated  from  the  heat  of  the 
fire,  crept  with  stealthy  step  beneath  the  table,  as  if  respect- 
ing the  mournful  stillness  of  the  scene.  How  different  the 
picture  from  what  that  humble  chamber  had  so  often  pre- 
sented !  What  a  contrast  to  those  happy  evenings,  when, 
as  the  girls  worked,  Hans  would  read  aloud  some  of  those 
strange  mysteries  of  Jean  Paul,  or  the  wild  and  fanciful 
imaginings  of  Chamisso,  while  old  Dalton  would  lay  down 
his  pipe  and  break  in  upon  his  memories  of  Ireland,  to  ask 
at  what  they  were  laughing,  and  Frank  look  up  distractedly 
from  his  old  chronicles  of  German  war  to  join  in  the  mirth ! 
How,  at  such  moments,  Hans  would  listen  to  the  interpreta- 
tion, and  with  what  greedy  ears  follow  the  versions  the 
girls  would  give  of  some  favorite  passage,  as  if  dreading  lest 
its  force  should  be  weakened  or  its  beauty  marred  by  trans- 
mission !  And  then  those  outbreaks  of  admiration  that 
would  simultaneously  gush  forth  at  some  sentiment  of  high 
and  glorious  meaning,  some  godlike  gleam  of  bright  intelli- 
gence, which,  though  clothed  in  the  language  of  a  foreign 
land,  spoke  home  to  their  hearts  with  the  force  that  truth 
alone  can  speak ! 

Yes,  they  were,  indeed,  happy  evenings !  when  around 
their  humble  hearth  came  thronging  the  groups  of  many  a 
poet's  fancy,  bright  pictures  of  many  a  glorious  scene, 
emotions  of  heart  that  seemed  to  beat  in  unison  with  their 
own.  They  felt  no  longer  the  poverty  of  their  humble  con- 
dition, they  had  no  memory  for  the  little  straits  and  trials 
of  the  bygone  daj^,  as  they  trod  with  Tieck  the  alley  beneath 
the  lindens  of  some  rural  village,  or  sat  with  Auerbach 
beneath  the  porch  of  the  Vorsteher's  dwelling.  The  dull 
realities  of  life  faded  before  the  vivid  conceptions  of  fiction, 
and  they  imbibed  lessons  of  patient  submission  and  trust- 
fulness from  those  brothers  and  sisters  who  are  poets* 
children. 

And  yet  —  what  no  darkness  of  adversity  could  rob  them 
of  —  the  first  gleam  of  what,  to  worldly  minds  at  least, 
would  seem  better  fortune,  had  already  despoiled  them. 
Like  the  traveller  in  the  fable,  who  had  grasped  his  cloak 
the  faster  through  the  storm,  but  who  threw  it  away  when 


174  THE  DALTONS. 

the  hot  rays  scorched  him,  they  could  brave  the  hurricane, 
but  not  face  the  sunshine. 

The  little  wooden  clock  behind  the  door  struck  nine,  and 
Dal  ton  started  up  suddenly. 

"What  did  it  strike,  girls?"   asked  he,  quickly. 

"  Nine,  papa,"  replied  Kate,  in  a  low  voice. 

"At  what  hour  was  he  to  come  for  the  answer?" 

"At  ten,"  said  she,  still  lower. 

"Well,  you'd  better  write  it  at  once,"  said  he,  with 
a  peevishness  very  different  from  his  ordinary  manner. 
"They've  remained  here  already  four  daj's  —  isn't  it  four 
days  she  says  ?  —  to  give  us  time  to  make  up  our  minds ; 
we  cannot  detain  them  any  longer." 

"  Lady  Hester  has  shown  every  consideration  for  our 
difficulty,"  said  Kate.  "  We  cannot  be  too  grateful  for  her 
kindness." 

"Tell  her  so,"  said  he,  bitterly.  "I  suppose  women 
know  when  to  believe  each  other." 

"And  what  reply  am  I  to  make,  sir?"  said  she,  calmly, 
as  having  put  aside  her  work,  she  took  her  place  at  the 
writing-table. 

"Faith,  I  don't  care,"  said  he,  doggedly.  "Nor  is  it 
much  matter  what  opinion  I  give.  I  am  nobody  now;  I 
have  no  right  to  decide  upon  anything." 

"The  right  and  duty  are  both  yours,  papa." 

"Duty!  So  I'm  to  be  taught  my  duty  as  well  as  the 
rest!"  said  he,  passionately.  "Don't  you  think  there  are 
some  others  might  remember  that  they  have  duties  also?" 

"Would  that  I  could  fulfil  mine  as  my  heart  dictates 
them ! "  said  Ellen ;  and  her  lip  trembled  as  she  spoke  the 
words. 

"Faith!  I  scarce  know  what's  my  duty,  with  all  the 
drilling  and  dictating  I  get,"  muttered  he,  sulkily.  "But 
this  I  know,  there 's  no  will  left  me  —  I  dare  not  budge 
this  side  or  that  without  leave." 

"  Dearest  papa,  be  just  to  yourself,  if  not  to  me." 

"Isn't  it  truth  I'm  saying?"  continued  he,  his  anger 
rising  with  every  word  he  spoke.  "  One  day,  I  'm  forbid 
to  ask  my  friends  home  with  me  to  dinner.  Another,  I  'm 
told  I  ought  n't  to  go  dine  with  them.     I  'm  tutored  and 


A  FAMILY  DISCUSSION.  175 

lectured  at  every  hand's  turn.  Never  a  thought  crosses  me, 
but  it 's  sure  to  be  wrong.  You  din  into  my  ears,  how 
happy  it  is  to  be  poor  when  one's  contented." 

"The  lesson  was  yours,  dear  papa,"  said  Nelly,  smiling. 
"  Don't  disavow  your  own  teaching." 

"  Well,  the  more  fool  me.  I  know  better  now.  But 
what's  the  use  of  it?  When  the  prospect  of  a  little  ease 
and  comfort  was  offered  to  me,  you  persuaded  me  to  refuse 
it.  Ay,  that  you  did!  You  began  with  the  old  story 
about  our  happy  hearth  and  contentment ;  and  where  is  it 
now?" 

A  sob,  so  low  as  to  be  scarcely  heard,  broke  from  Nelly, 
and  she  pressed  her  hand  to  her  heart  with  a  convulsive 
force. 

"  Can  you  deny  it?  You  made  me  reject  the  only  piece 
of  kindness  ever  was  shown  me  in  a  life  long.  Ther^  was 
the  opportunity  of  spending  the  rest  of  my  days  in  peace, 
and  you  would  n't  let  me  take  it.  And  the  fool  I  was  to 
listen  to  you !  " 

"  Oh,  papa,  how  you  wrong  her !  "  cried  Kate,  as,  in  a 
torrent  of  tears,  she  bent  over  his  chair.  "  Dearest  Nelly 
has  no  thought  but  for  us.     Her  whole  heart  is  our  own." 

"If  you  could  but  see  it!"  cried  Nelly,  with  a  thick 
utterance. 

"'Tis  a  droll  way  of  showing  affection,  then,"  said 
Dal  ton,  "to  keep  me  a  beggar,  and  yoii  no  better  than  a 
servant-maid.  It's  little  matter  about  me,  I  know.  I'm 
old,  and  worn  out,  — a  reduced  Irish  gentleman,  with  noth- 
ing but  his  good  blood  remaining  to  him.  But  yow,  Kate, 
that  are  young  and  handsome,  —  ay,  faith !  a  deal  sight 
better-looking  than  my  Lady  herself,  —  it 's  a  little  hard  that 
you  are  to  be  denied  what  might  be  your  whole  fortune  in 
life." 

"  You  surely  would  not  stake  all  her  happiness  on  the 
venture,  papa?"   said  Nelly,  mildly. 

"Happiness!"  said  he,  scornfully;  "what  do  you  call 
happiness?  Is  it  dragging  out  life  in  poverty  like  this, 
with  the  proudest  friend  in  our  list  an  old  toy-maker?" 

"  Poor  Hanserl !  "  murmured  Nelly,  in  a  low  voice;  but 
soft  as  were  the  accents,  the  dwarf  heard  them,  and  nodded 


176  THE   DALTONS. 

his  head  twice,  as  though  to  thauk  her  for  a  recognition 
of  whose  import  he  knew  nothing. 

"  Just  so !  You  have  pity  enough  for  strangers,  but  none 
for  your  own  people,"  said  Dalton,  as  he  arose  and  paced 
the  room,  the  very  act  of  motion  serving  to  increase  his 
anger.  "He  was  never  used  to  better;  he's  just  what  he 
always  was.  But  think  of  me/  think  of  the  expectations  I 
was  reared  to,  the  place  I  used  to  hold,  and  see  me  now !  " 

"  Dearest,  best  papa,  do  not  say  those  bitter  words," 
cried  Kate,  passionately.  "  Our  own  dear  Nelly  loves  us 
truly.     What  has  her  life  been  but  self-denial?" 

"And  have  I  not  had  my  share  of  self-denial?"  said  he, 
abruptly.  "  Is  there  left  a  single  one  of  the  comforts  I  was 
always  accustomed  to  ?  'T  is  sick  I  am  of  hearing  about 
submission,  and  patience,  and  resignation,  and  the  like,  and 
that  we  never  were  so  happy  as  now.  Faith !  I  tell  you,  I  'd 
rather  have  one  day  at  Mount  Dalton,  as  it  used  to  be  long 
ago,  than  I  'd  have  twenty  years  of  the  life  I  spend  here." 

"  No,  papa,  no,"  said  Nelly,  winding  her  arm  around  his 
waist,  "you'd  rather  sit  at  the  window  yonder,  and  listen 
to  a  song  from  Kate,  —  one  of  your  own  favorites,  —  or  take 
a  stroll  with  us  after  sunset  of  a  summer's  evening,  and  talk 
of  Frank,  than  go  back  to  all  the  gayety  of  that  wild  life  you 
speak  of." 

"  Who  says  so?"  asked  he,  roughly. 

"  You  yourself.     Nay,  don't  deny  it,"  said  she,  smiling. 

"  If  I  did  I  was  wrong,  then,"  rejoined  he,  pushing  her 
rudely  away.  "  It  was  because  I  believed  my  children  were 
affectionate  and  fond,  and  that  whatever  I  set  my  heart  on 
they  'd  be  sure  to  wish  just  as  much  as  myself." 

"  And  when  has  that  time  ceased  to  be?"  said  she,  calmly. 

"What!  —  when  has  it  ceased  to  be?"  said  he,  sharply. 
"Is  it  you  that  asks  that  question, — you  that  made  me 
refuse  the  legacy  ?  " 

"Nay,  papa,  be  just,"  interrupted  she,  mildly.  "The 
merit  of  that  refusal  was  all  your  own.  I  did  but  explain 
to  you  the  circumstances  under  which  this  gift  —  it  was  no 
less  —  was  offered,  and  your  own  right  feeling  dictated  the 
reply." 

Dalton  was  silent,  —  a  struggling  sense  of  pride  in  his 


A  FAMILY  DISCUSSION.  177 

imputed  dignity  of  behavior  warring  with  the  desire  of 
fault-finding. 

"  Maybe  I  did !  "  said  he,  at  last,  self-esteem  gaining  the 
mastery.  "  Maybe  I  saw  my  own  reasons  for  what  I  was 
going  to  do.  A  Dalton  is  not  the  man  to  mistake  what 's 
due  to  his  name  and  family;  but  this  is  a  different  case. 
Here  's  an  invitation,  as  elegant  a  piece  of  politeness  as  I 
have  seen,  from  one  our  own  equal  in  every  respect ;  she 
calls  herself  a  connection  too,  —  we  won't  say  much  about 
that,  for  we  never  reckoned  the  English  relations  anything, 
—  asking  my  daughter  to  join  them  in  their  visit  to  Italy. 
When  are  we  to  see  the  like  of  that  again  ?  Is  it  every  day 
that  some  rich  family  will  make  us  the  same  offer?  It's  not 
to  cost  us  a  sixpence ;  read  the  letter,  and  you  '11  see  how 
nicely  it 's  hinted  that  her  Ladyship  takes  everything  upon 
herself.  Well,  if  any  one  objected  it  might  be  myself ;  't  is 
on  me  will  fall  the  heaviest  part  of  the  blow.  It  was  only 
the  other  day  Frank  left  me ;  now  I  'm  to  lose  Kate,  —  not 
but  I  know  very  well  Nelly  will  do  her  best." 

Slight  as  was  the  praise,  she  kissed  his  hand  passionately 
for  it ;  and  it  was  some  seconds  ere  he  could  proceed. 

"  Yes,  I  'm  sure  you  '11  do  all  you  can ;  but  what  is  it  after 
all  ?  Won't  I  miss  the  songs  she  sings  for  me ;  won't  I 
miss  her  laughing  voice  and  her  sprightly  step?  " 

"And  why  should  you  encounter  sucli  privations,  papa?" 
broke  Nelly  in.  "  These  are,  as  you  justly  say,  the  greatest 
sources  of  your  happiness.  Why  separate  from  them? 
Why  rob  this  humble  chamber  of  its  fairest  ornament? 
Why  darken  our  hearth  by  an  absence  for  which  nothing 
can  requite  us?" 

"  I  '11  tell  you  why,  then,"  said  he,  and  a  sparkling  gleam 
of  cunning  lit  up  his  eye,  as  the  casuistry  crossed  his  mind. 
"  Just  because  I  can  deny  myself  anything  for  my  children's 
sake.  'T  is  for  them  I  am  thinking  always.  Give  old 
Peter  Dalton  his  due,  and  nobody  can  call  him  selfish,  —  not 
the  worst  enemy  he  had  !  Let  me  feel  that  m}'  children  are 
benefited,  and  you  may  leave  me  to  trudge  along  the  weary 
path  before  me." 

"  Then  there  only  remains  to  see  if  this  promise  of  benefit 
be  real,"  said  Nelly. 

VOL    1—12 


178  THE  DALTONS. 

"And  why  wouldn't  it?  Doesn't  everybody  know  that 
travelling  and  seeing  foreign  parts  is  equal  to  any  educa- 
tion? How  many  things  haven't  I  seen  myself  since  I 
came  abroad,  that  I  never  dreamed  about  before  I  left 
home !  Look  at  the  way  they  dress  the  peas  —  with  sugar 
in  them.  See  how  they  shoe  a  horse  —  with  a  leg  tied  up 
to  a  post,  as  if  they  were  going  to  cut  it  off.  Mind  the 
droll  fashion  they  have  of  fastening  a  piece  of  timber  to 
the  hind  wheel  of  a  coach,  by  way  of  a  drag !  There  's  no 
end  to  their  contrivances." 

"  Let  us  forget  every  consideration  but  one,"  said  Nelly, 
earnestly.  "  What  are  the  dangers  that  maj'  beset  Kate, 
in  a  career  of  such  difficulty,  when,  without  an  adviser, 
miles  away  from  us  all,  she  may  need  counsel  or  comfort. 
Think  of  her  in  sickness  or  in  sorrow,  or,  worse  than 
both,  under  temptation.  Picture  to  yourself  how  dearly 
bought  would  be  every  charm  of  that  refinement  you  covet 
for  her,  at  the  price  of  a  heart  weakened  in  its  attachment 
to  home,  bereft  of  the  simple  faith  that  there  was  no  dis- 
grace in  poverty.  Think,  above  all,"  cried  she  —  and  for 
the  first  time  her  lips  trembled,  and  her  eyes  swam  — 
"  think,  above  all,  we  cannot  give  her  up  forever ;  and  yet 
how  is  she  to  come  back  again  to  these  humble  fortunes, 
and  the  daily  toil  that  she  will  then  regard  with  shame  and 
disgust?  I  ask  not  how  differently  shall  we  appear  in  her 
eyes,  for  I  know  that,  however  changed  in  her  habits,  how 
wide  soever  be  the  range  of  thought  knowledge  may  have 
imparted,  her  fond,  true  heart  will  still  be  all  our  own ;  but 
can  you  risk  her  fortunes  on  an  ocean  like  this ;  can  you 
peril  all  her  future  for  so  little  ?  " 

"  To  hear  you  talk,  Nelly,  one  might  think  she  was  going 
to  Jerusalem  or  Australia;  sure,  after  all,  it's  only  a  few 
days  away  from  us  she  '11  be ;  and  as  for  the  dangers,  devil 
a  one  of  them  I  see.  Peter  Dalton's  daughter  is  not  likely 
to  be  ill-treated  anywhere.  We  were  always  a  '  good  war- 
rant '  for  taking  care  of  our  own ;  and,  to  make  short  of  it, 
I  wish  it,  and  Kate  herself  wishes  it,  and  I  don't  see  why 
our  hopes  should  not  be  as  strong  as  your  fears.' 

"You  remember,  too,  papa,  that  Dr.  Grounsell  agreed 
with  me,  and  spoke  even  more  strongly'  than  I  did  against 
the  scheme  ?  " 


A  FAMILY  DISCUSSION.  179 

"  And  did  n't  I  pay  bim  off  for  his  interference?  Did  n't 
I  give  him  a  bit  of  my  mind  about  it,  and  tell  him  that, 
because  a  man  was  ettiploj'ed  as  a  doctor  in  a  family,  he 
ought  not  to  presume  to  advise  them  on  their  own  affairs  ? 
Faith,  I  don't  think  he  '11  trouble  another  patient  with  his 
counsel." 

"  We  must  not  forget,  sir,  that  if  his  counsel  came  un- 
asked, his  skill  was  unrequited ;  both  came  from  a  nature 
that  wished  us  well." 

"The  advice  and  the  physic  were  about  the  same  value 
—  both  made  me  sick ;  and  so  you  're  like  to  do  if  you 
worry  me  any  longer.  1  tell  you  now,  my  mind  's  made  up, 
and  go  she  shall !  " 

"  Oh,  papa,  not  if  dear  Nelly  thinks —  " 

"What's  that  to  me — don't  I  know  more  of  the  world 
than  she  does?  Am  I  come  to  this  time  of  life  to  be  taught 
by  a  slip  of  a-  girl  that  never  was  ten  miles  out  of  her  home? 
Sit  down  here  now,  and  write  the  answer." 

There  was  a  stern  determination  in  the  way  these  last 
words  were  uttered  that  told  Nelly  how  fruitless  would  be 
all  further  opposition.  She  had  long  since  remarked, 
besides,  how  her  father's  temper  reacted  upon  his  health, 
and  how  invariably  any  prolonged  excitement  terminated 
in  an  attack  of  gout.  Increasing  age  gave  to  these  ac- 
cesses of  malady  a  character  of  danger,  which  she  already 
began  to  remark  with  deep  anxiety.  Now  she  saw  that 
immediate  compliance  with  his  wishes  was  the  only  alterna- 
tive left. 

She  seated  herself  at  the  table,  and  prepared  to  write. 
For  some  seconds  the  disturbance  of  her  thoughts,  the 
mingled  crowd  of  sensations  that  filled  her  mind,  prevented 
all  power  of  calm  consideration  ;  but  the  struggle  was  soon 
over,  and  she  wrote  on  rapidly. 

So  silent  was  the  chamber,  so  hushed  was  all  within  it, 
that  the  scratching  noise  of  the  pen  alone  broke  the  still- 
ness. Speedily  glided  her  hand  across  the  paper,  on  which 
two  heavy  tears  had  already  fallen,  —  burning  drops  of 
sorrow  that  gushed  from  a  fevered  brain !  A  whole  world 
of  disaster,  a  terrible  catalogue  of  ill,  revealed  itself  before 
her;  but  she  wrote  on.     She  felt  that  she  was  to  put  in 


180  THE  DALTONS. 

motion  the  series  of  events  whose  onward  course  she  never 
could  control,  as  though  she  was  to  push  over  a  precipice 
the  rock  that  in  its  downward  rush  would  carry  ruin  and 
desolation  along  with  it ;  but  she  wrote  on. 

At  last  she  ceased,  and  all  was  still;  not  a  soand  was 
heard  in  the  little  room,  and  Nelly  leaned  her  head  down 
upon  the  table  and  wept. 

But  while  she  wept  she  prayed,  —  prayed  that  if  the 
season  of  trouble  her  thoughts  foreshadowed  should  be 
inevitable,  and  that  if  the  cup  of  sorrow  must,  indeed,  be 
drained,  the  strength  might  be  sent  them  for  the  eflfort. 
It  might  have  been  that  her  mind  exaggerated  the  perils 
of  separation,  and  the  dangers  that  would  beset  one  of 
Kate's  temper  and  disposition.  Her  own  bereavement  might 
have  impressed  her  with  the  miserj'  that  follows  an  unhappy 
attachment ;  and  her  reflective  nature,  shadowed  by  an  earl}' 
sorrow,  might  have  colored  too  darkly  a  future  of  such 
uncertainty.  But  a  deep  forebodmg,  like  a  heavy  weight, 
la}'  upon  her  heart,  and  she  was  powerless  to  resist  it. 

These  instincts  of  our  nature  are  not  to  be  undervalued, 
nor  confounded  with  the  weak  and  groundless  terrors  of 
the  frivolous.  The  closing  petals  of  the  flower  as  the  storm 
draws  nigh,  the  wild  cry  of  the  sea-bird  as  the  squall  is 
gathering,  the  nestling  of  the  sheep  within  the  fold  while 
yet  the  hurricane  has  not  broke,  —  are  signs  that,  to  the 
observant  instincts,  peril  comes  not  unannounced. 

"Shall  I  read  it,  papa?"  said  she,  as  she  raised  her 
head,  and  turned  towards  him  a  look  of  calm  and  beaming 
affection. 

"  You  needn't,"  said  he,  roughly.  "  Of  course,  it's  full 
of  all  the  elegant  phrases  women  like  to  cheat  each  other 
with.     You  said  she  will  go;  that's  enough." 

Nelly  tried  to  speak,  but  the  words  would  not  come,  and 
she  merely  nodded  an  acquiescence. 

"  And,  of  course,  too,  you  told  her  Ladyship  that  if  it 
wasn't  to  a  near  relation  of  the  family  —  one  that  had  a 
kind  of  right,  as  I  may  say,  to  ask  her  —  that  I  'd  never  have 
given  my  consent.     Neither  would  I !  " 

"  I  said  that  you  could  give  no  higher  proof  of  your 
confidence   in  Lady  Hester's  goodness  and  worth,  than  in 


A  FAMILY  DISCUSSION.  181 

conmiitting  to  her  charge  all  that  we  hold  so  dear.  I  spoke 
of  our  gratitude  "  —  her  voice  faltered  here,  and  she  hesi- 
tated a  second  or  so ;  our  gratitude !  —  strange  word  to 
express  the  feeling  with  which  we  part  from  what  we  cling  to 
so  fondly !  —  "  and  I  asked  of  her  to  be  the  mother  of  her 
who  had  none  !  " 

"Oh,  Nelly,  I  cannot  go  —  I  cannot  leave  you!"  burst 
out  Kate,  as  she  knelt  down,  and  buried  her  head  in  her 
sister's  lap.  "  I  feel  already  how  weak  and  how  unable  I 
am  to  live  among  strangers,  away  from  you  and  dear  papa. 
I  have  need  of  you  both !  " 

"  May  I  never  leave  this  spot  if  you  're  not  enough  to 
drive  me  mad  !  "  exclaimed  Dalton.  "  You  cried  two  nights 
and  a  day  because  there  was  opposition  to  your  going. 
You  fretted  till  your  eyes  were  red,  and  your  cheeks  all 
furrowed  with  tears ;  and  now  that  you  get  leave  to  go  — 
now  that  I  consent  to  —  to  —  to  sacrifice  —  ay,  to  sacrifice 
my  domestic  enjoyments  to  your  benefit  —  you  turn  short 
round  and  say  you  won't  go !  " 

"Nay,  nay,  papa,"  said  Nelly,  mildly;  "Kate  but  owns 
with  what  fears  she  would  consent  to  leave  us,  and  in  this 
shows  a  more  fitting  mind  to  brave  what  may  come,  than 
if  she  went  forth  with  a  heart  brimful  of  its  bright  anticipa- 
tions, and  only  occupied  with  a  future  of  splendor  and 
enjoyment." 

"  I  ask  you  again,  is  it  into  the  backwoods  of  Newfound- 
land —  is  it  into  the  deserts  of  Arabia  —  she  is  going  ?  "  said 
Dalton,  ironically. 

"The  country  before  her  has  perils  to  the  full  as  great,  if 
not  greater  than  either,"  rejoined  Nelly,  lowly. 

"There's  a  ring  at  the  bell,"  said  Dalton,  perhaps  not 
sorry  to  cut  short  a  discussion  in  which  his  own  doubts 
and  fears  were  often  at  variance  with  his  words ;  for  while 
opposing  Nelly  with  all  his  might,  he  was  frequently  forced 
to  coincide  secretly  with  that  he  so  stoutly  resisted.  Vanity 
alone  rose  above  every  other  motive,  and  even  hardened  his 
heart  against  separation  and  absence  from  his  favorite  child, 
— vanity  to  think  that  his  daughter  would  be  the  admired 
beauty  in  the  salons  of  the  great  and  highly  born ;  that 
she  would    be   daily  moving  in  a   rank   the  most  exalted ; 


182  THE  DALTONS. 

that  his  dear  Kate  would  be  the  attraction  of  courts,  the 
centre  of  adulation  wherever  she  went.  So  blinded  was  he 
by  false  reasoning,  that  he  actually  fancied  himself  a  martyr 
to  his  daughter's  future  advancement,  and  that  this  in- 
veterate egotism  was  a  high  and  holy  self-denial!  "My 
worst  enemy  never  called  me  selfish,"  was  the  balm  that 
he  ever  laid  on  his  chafed  spirit,  and  always  with  success. 
It  would,  however,  have  been  rather  the  part  of  friend, 
than  of  enemy,  to  have  whispered  that  selfishness  was  the 
very  bane  and  poison  of  his  nature.  It  was  his  impulse  in 
all  the  wasteful  extravagance  of  his  early  life ;  it  was  his 
motive  in  all  the  struggles  of  his  adversity.  To  sustain  a 
mock  rank,  to  affect  a  mock  position,  to  uphold  a  mock 
standard  of  gentility,  he  was  willing  to  submit  to  a  thousand 
privations  of  his  children  and  himself ;  and  to  gratify  a 
foolish  notion  of  family  pride,  he  was  read}'  to  endure  any- 
thing, —  even  to  separation  from  all  he  held  dearest. 

"  Lady  Hester's  courier  has  come  for  the  answer  to  her 
note,  papa,"  said  Nelly,  twice  over,  before  Dalton  heard 
her,  for  he  was  deep  sunk  in  his  own  musings. 

"  Let  him  come  in  and  have  a  glass  of  wine,"  said 
Dalton.  "  I  'd  like  to  ask  him  a  few  questions  about 
these  people." 

"Oil,  papa!"  whispered  Nelly,  in  a  tone  at  once  so 
reproachful,  that  the  old  man  colored  and  looked  away. 

"  I  meant  about  what  time  they  were  to  start  on  the  jour- 
ney," said  he,  confusedly. 

"  Lady  Hester  told  us  they  should  leave  this  to-morrow, 
sir." 

"  Short  notice  for  us.  How  is  Kate  to  have  all  her  clothes 
packed,  and  everything  arranged?  I  don't  think  that  is 
treating  us  with  much  respect,  Nelly." 

"They  have  waited  four  days  for  our  decision,  papa  — 
remember  that." 

"  Ay,  to  be  sure.  I  was  forgetting  that;  and  she  came 
every  day  to  press  the  matter  more  and  more;  and  there 
was  no  end  to  the  note-writing  besides.  I  must  say  that 
nothing  could  beat  their  politeness.  It  was  a  mighty  nice 
attention,  the  old  man  coming  himself  to  call  here;  and  a 
fine,  hale,  good-looking  man  he  is !  a  better  figure  than  ever 


A  FAMILY  DISCUSSION.  183 

his  son  will  be.  I  don't  much  like  Mr.  George,  as  they  call 
him." 

"  Somewhat  colder,  and  more  reserved,  I  think,  than  the 
other,"  said  Nelly.     "But  about  this  answer,  papa?" 

"What  a  hurry  they're  in.  Is  it  a  return  to  a  writ,  that 
they  must  press  for  it  this  way?  Well,  well,  I  ought  to  be 
used  to  all  manner  of  interruptions  and  disturbances  by  this 
time.  Fetch  me  a  candle,  till  I  seal  it ;  "  and  he  sighed,  as 
he  drew  forth  his  old-fashioned  watch,  to  which,  by  a  mas- 
sive steel  chain,  the  great  family  seal  was  attached*,  firmly 
persuaded  that  in  the  simple  act  he  was  about  to  perform  he 
was  achieving  a  mighty  labor,  at  the  cost  of  much  fatigue. 
"  No  rest  for  the  wicked  !  as  my  old  father  used  to  say,"  mut- 
tered he,  in  a  happy  ignorance  whether  the  philosophy  eman- 
ated from  his  parent,  or  from  some  higher  authority.  "  One 
would  think  that  at  my  time  of  life  a  man  might  look  for  a 
little  peace  and  ease ;  but  Peter  Dal  ton  has  n't  such  luck ! 
Give  me  the  letter,"  said  he,  querulously.  "  There  is  Peter 
Dalton's  hand  and  seal,  —  his  act  and  will,"  muttered  he, 
with  a  half-solemnity,  as  he  pressed  the  wax  with  his  heavy 
signet.  "  '  Semper  eadem  ; '  there 's  the  ancient  motto  of  our 
house,  and,  faith,  I  believe  Counsellor  O'Shea  was  right 
when  he  translated  it  '  The  devil  a  better ! ' " 

He  read  the  address  two  or  three  times  over  to  himself,  as 
if  there  was  something  pleasurable  in  the  very  look  of  the 
words,  and  then  he  turned  his  glance  towards  Hans,  as  in  a 
dreamy  half-consciousness  he  sat  still,  contemplating  the 
little  statue  of  Marguerite. 

"  Is  n't  it  droll  to  think  we  'd  be  writing  to  the  first  in  the 
land,  and  an  old  toy-maker  sitting  beside  the  fii-e  all  the 
time,"  said  Dalton,  as  he  shook  his  head  thoughtfully,  in  the 
firm  conviction  that  he  had  uttered  a  very  wise  and  profound 
remark.     "  Well  —  well  —  well !     Life  is  a  queer  thing !  " 

"Is  it  not  stranger  still  that  we  should  have  won  the 
friendship  of  poor  Hanserl  than  have  attracted  the  notice 
of  Lady  Hester?  "  said  Nelly.  "  Is  it  not  a  prouder  thought 
that  we  have  drawn  towards  us  from  affectionate  interest  the 
kindness  that  has  no  touch  of  condescension  ?  " 

"  I  hope  you  are  not  comparing  the  two,"  said  Dalton, 
angrily.     "What's  the  creature  muttering  to  himself?" 


184  THE  DALTONS. 

"It's  Gretchen's  song  he's  trying  to  remember,"  said 
Kate. 

"  Nach  ihm  uur  schau'  ich 
Zum  Feiister  hinaus  !  " 

said  Hans,  in  a  low,  distinct  voice.  "  '  Was  kommt  nach,' 
—  what  comes  next,  FrJiulein?  " 

"You  must  ask  sister  Nelly,  Hanserl,"  said  Kate;  but 
Nelly  was  standing  behind  the  massive  stove,  her  face 
covered  -with  her  hands. 

"Zum  Fenster  hinaus,"  repeated  he,  slowly;  "  and  then, 
Fraulein  ?  and  then  ?  " 

"  Tell  him,  Nelly ;  tell  him  what  follows." 

"  Nach  ihm  nur  schau'  ich 
Zum  Fenster  hinaus ; 
Nach  ihm  nur  geh'  ich 
A  us  dem  Haus  !  " 
repeated  she. 

"  Ja,  ja !  "  cried  Hans,  delightedly,  — 

"  Nach  ihm  nur  geh'  ich 
Aus  dem  Haus !  " 

"  What  does  that  mean?"  said  Dalton,  with  impatience. 
"  It 's  Gretchen's  song,  papa,"  said  Nelly,  — 

"  His  figure  I  gaze  on, 
O'er  and  o'er ; 
His  step  I  follow 
From  the  door." 

"I  hope  it  isn't  in  love  the  creature  is,"  said  Dalton; 
and  he  laughed  heartily  at  the  conceit,  turning  at  the 
same  time  his  look  from  the  dwarf,  to  bestow  a  most 
complacent  glance  at  the  remains  of  his  own  once  hand- 
some stature.  "Oh  dear!  oh  dear !"  sighed  he;  "isn't  it 
wonderful,  but  there  isn't  a  creth  or  a  cripple  that  walks 
the  earth  that  hasn't  a  sweetheart!  " 

A  cough,  purposely  loud  enough  to  announce  his  presence, 
here  came  from  the  courier  in  the  antechamber,  and  Dalton 
remembered  that  the  letter  had  not  yet  been  despatched. 

"  Give  it  to  him,  Nelly,"  said  he,  curtly. 


A  FAMILY  DISCUSSION.  186 

She  took  the  letter  in  her  hand,  but  stood  for  a  second  or 
two,  as  if  powerless  to  move. 

"  Must  it  be  so,  dearest  papa?"  said  she,  and  the  words 
almost  choked  her  utterance. 

Dalton  snatched  the  letter  from  her  fingers,  and  left  the 
room.  His  voice  was  heard  for  an  instant  in  conversa- 
tion with  the  courier,  and  the  moment  after  the  door 
banged  heavily,  and  all  was  still. 

"  It  is  done,  Kate !  "  said  she,  throwing  her  arms  around 
her  sister's  neck.  "Let  us  now  speak  of  the  future;  we 
have  much  to  say,  and  short  time  to  say  it ;  and  first  let  U8 
help  poor  Hans  downstairs." 

The  dwarf,  clutching  up  the  wooden  image,  suffered  him- 
self to  be  aided  with  all  the  submissiveness  of  a  patient  child, 
and,  with  one  at  either  side  of  him,  slowly  crept  down  the 
stairs  to  his  own  chamber.  Disengaging  himself  by  a  gentle 
effort  as  he  gained  his  door,  Hans  removed  his  cap  from  his 
head  and  made  a  low  and  deep  obeisance  to  each  of  the  girls 
separately,  while  he  bade  them  a  good- night. 

"Leb  wohl,  Hanserl,  Leb  wohl!  "  said  Kate,  taking  his 
hand  affectionately.  "  Be  ever  the  true  friend  that  thou 
hast  proved  hitherto,  and  let  me  think  of  thee,  when  far  away, 
with  gratitude." 

"  Why  this?  How  so,  Fraulein?"  said  Hans,  anxiously; 
"  why  farewell?  Why  sayest  thou  '  Leb  wohl,'  when  it  is  but 
'good-night'  ?  " 

"  Kate  is  about  to  leave  us  for  a  short  space,"  said  Nelly, 
affecting  to  appear  at  ease  and  calm.  "  She  is  going  to 
Italy,  Hanserl." 

"Das  schdne  Land! — that  lovely  land!"  muttered  he, 
over  and  over.  "  Dahin,  dahin,"  cried  he,  pointing  with 
his  finger  to  the  southward,  "where  the  gold  orange 
blooms.     There  would  I  wander  too." 

"You'll  not  forget  me,  Hanserl?"  said  the  young  girl, 
kindly. 

"  Over  the  great  Alps  and  away !  "  said  Hans,  still  talk- 
ing to  himself;  "over  the  high  snow-peaks  which  cast  their 
shadows  on  our  cold  land,  but  have  terraces  for  the  vine 
and  olive-garden,  yonder!  Thou 'It  leave  us,  then, 
Fraulein?" 


186  THE  DALTONS. 

"But  for  a  little  while,  Haus,  to  come  back  afterwards 
and  tell  thee  all  I  have  seeu." 

"They  come  not  back  from  the  sunshine  to  the  shade," 
said  Hans,  solemnly.  "  Thou  'It  leave  not  the  palace  for  the 
peasant's  hut;  but  think  of  us,  Fraulein;  think  sometimes, 
when  the  soft  sirocco  is  playing  through  thy  glossy  hair; 
when  sounds  of  music  steal  over  thy  senses  among  the 
orange  groves,  and  near  the  shadows  of  old  temples,  — 
think  of  this  simple  Fatherland  and  its  green  vallej^s. 
Think  of  them  with  whom  thou  wert  so  happy,  too!  Splen- 
dor thou  mayst  have  —  it  is  thy  beauty's  right;  but  be  not 
proud,  Fraulein.  Remember  what  Chamisso  tells  us,  '  Das 
Noth  lehrt  beten,'  —  '  Want  teaches  Prayer,'  and  to  that 
must  thou  come,  however  high  thy  fortune." 

"Kate  will  be  our  own  wherever  she  be,"  said  Nelly, 
clasping  her  sister  affectionately  to  her  side. 

"Bethink  thee  well,  Fraulein,  in  thy  wanderings,  that 
the  great  and  the  beautiful  are  brethren  of  the  good  and  the 
simple.  The  cataract  and  the  dewdrop  are  kindred.  Think 
of  all  that  teaches  thee  to  think  of  home;  and  remember 
well,  that  when  thou  losest  the  love  of  this  humble  hearth 
thou  art  in  peril.  If  to  any  of  thy  childish  toys  thou 
sayest '  Ich  Hebe  dich  nicht  mehr,'  then  art  thou  changed 
indeed."  Hans  sat  down  upon  his  little  bed  as  he  spoke, 
and  covered  his  face  with  his  hands. 

Nelly  watched  him  silently  for  a  few  seconds,  and  then 
with  a  gentle  hand  closed  the  door  and  led  Kate  away. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

CARES   AND    CROSSES. 

The  lamp  in  Kate  Dalton's  chamber  was  still  burning  when 
the  morning  dawned,  and  by  its  uncertain  flicker  might  be 
seen  the  two  sisters,  who,  clasped  in  each  other's  arms,  sat 
upon  the  low  settle- bed.  Nelly,  pale  and  motionless,  sup- 
ported Kate,  as,  overcome  by  watching  and  emotion,  she 
had  fallen  into  a  heavy  slumber.  Not  venturing  to  stir, 
lest  she  should  awaken  her,  Nelly  had  leaned  against  the 
wall  for  support,  and,  in  her  unmoved  features  and  deathly 
pallor,  seemed  like  some  monumental  figure  of  sorrow. 

It  was  not  alone  the  grief  of  an  approaching  separation 
that  oppressed  her.  Sad  as  it  was  to  part  from  one  to 
whom  she  had  been  mother  and  sister  too,  her  affliction  was 
tinged  with  a  deeper  coloring  in  her  fears  for  the  future. 
Loving  Kate  dearer  than  anything  in  the  world,  she  was 
alive  to  all  the  weak  traits  of  her  character:  her  credulity, 
her  trustfulness,  her  fondness  for  approbation,  even  from 
those  whose  judgments  she  held  lightly,  her  passion  for 
admiration  even  in  trifles,  were  well  known  to  her;  and 
while,  perhaps,  these  very  failings,  like  traits  of  childish 
temperament,  had  actually  endeared  her  the  more  to  Nelly, 
she  could  not  but  dread  their  effect  when  they  came  to  be 
exercised  in  the  world  of  strangers. 

Not  that  Nelly  could  form  the  very  vaguest  conception  of 
what  that  world  was  like.  Its  treasures  and  its  perils,  its 
engagements  and  hazards,  were  all  unknown  to  her.  It 
had  never  been  even  the  dream-land  of  her  imagination. 
Too  humble  in  spirit,  too  lowly  by  nature,  to  feel  compan- 
ionship with  the  great  and  titled,  she  had  associated  all  her 
thoughts  with  those  whose  life  is  labor;  with  them  were  all 


188  THE  DALTONS. 

her  sympathies.  There  was  a  simple  beauty  in  the 
unchanging  fortune  of  the  peasant's  life  —  such  as  she  had 
seen  in  the  Schwarzwald,  for  instance  —  that  captivated 
her.  That  peaceful  domesticity  was  the  very  nearest 
approach  to  happiness,  to  her  thinking,  and  she  longed  for 
the  day  when  her  father  might  consent  to  the  obscurity  and 
solitude  of  some  nameless  "Dorf  "  in  the  dark  recesses  of 
that  old  forest.  With  Frank  and  Kate,  such  a  lot  would 
have  been  a  paradise.  But  one  was  already  gone,  and  she 
was  now  to  lose  the  other  too.  "Strange  turn  of  fortune," 
as  she  said,  "that  prosperity  should  be  more  cruel  than 
adversity.  In  our  days  of  friendless  want  and  necessity 
we  held  together;  it  is  only  when  the  promise  of  brighter 
destinies  is  dawning  that  we  separate.  It  is  but  selfishness 
after  all,"  thought  she,  "to  wish  for  an  existence  like  this; 
such  humble  and  lowly  fortunes  might  naturally  enough 
become  '  lame  Nelly,'  but  Frank,  the  high-hearted,  daring 
youth,  with  ambitious  hopes  and  soaring  aspirations, 
demands  another  and  a  different  sphere  of  action;  and 
Kate,  whose  attractions  would  grace  a  court,  might  well 
sorrow  over  a  lot  of  such  ignoble  obscurity.  What  would 
not  my  sorrow  and  self-reproach  be  if  I  saw  that,  in  sub- 
mitting to  the  same  monotony  of  this  quietude,  they  should 
have  become  wearied  and  careless,  —  neither  taking  pleasure 
in  the  simple  pastimes  of  the  people,  nor  stooping  to  their 
companionship!  And  thus  all  may  be  for  the  best,"  said 
she,  half  aloud,  "if  I  could  but  feel  courage  to  think  so. 
We  may  each  of  us  be  but  following  his  true  road  in 
life." 

A  long  intimacy  with  affliction  will  very  frequently  be 
found  to  impress  even  a  religiously-disposed  mind  with  a 
strong  tinge  of  fatalism.  The  apparent  hopelessness  of  all 
eflfort  to  avert  calamity,  or  stem  the  tide  of  evil  fortune, 
often  suggests,  as  its  last  consolation,  the  notion  of  a 
predetermined  destiny,  to  which  we  are  bound  to  submit 
with  patient  trustfulness;  a  temperament  of  great  humility 
aids  this  conviction.  Both  of  these  conditions  were  Nelly's ; 
she  had  "supped  sorrow"  from  her  cradle,  while  her  esti- 
mate of  herself  was  the  very  lowest  possible.  "I  suppose 
it  is  so,"  said  she  again;  "all  is  for  the  best." 


CARES  AND  CROSSES.  189 

She  already  pictured  to  herself  the  new  spring  this  change 
of  fortune  would  impart  to  her  father's  life:  with  what 
delight  he  would  read  the  letters  from  his  children;  how  he 
would  once  more,  through  them,  taste  of  that  world  whose 
pleasures  he  was  so  fondly  attached  to.  "i  never  could 
have  yielded  him  a  gratification  like  this,"  said  Nelly,  as 
the  tears  rose  in  her  eyes.  "I  am  but  the  image  of  our 
fallen  fortunes,  and  in  me,  '  poor  lame  Nelly,'  he  can  but 
see  reflected  our  ruined  lot.  All  is  for  the  best  —  it 
must  be  so!"  sighed  she,  heavily;  and  just  as  the 
words  escaped,  her  father,  with  noiseless  step,  entered  the 
chamber. 

"To  be  sure  it  is,  Nelly  darling,"  said  he,  as  he  sat 
down  near  her,  "and  glad  I  am  that  you  've  come  to  reason 
at  last.  'T  is  plain  enough  this  is  n't  the  way  the  Daltons 
ought  to  be  passing  their  life,  in  a  little  hole  of  a  place, 
without  society  or  acquaintance  of  any  kind.  You  and  I 
may  bear  it, — not  but  it's  mighty  hard  upon  me  some- 
times, too,  —  but  Kate  there  —  just  look  at  her  and  say,  is  it 
a  girl  like  that  should  be  wasting  away  her  youth  in  a  dreary 
village?  Lady  Hester  tells  me  —  and  sure  nobody  should 
know  better  —  that  there  never  was  the  time  in  the  world 
when  real  beauty  had  the  same  chance  as  now,  and  I  'd  like 
to  see  the  girl  that  could  stand  beside  her.  Do  you  know, 
Nelly,"  —  here  he  drew  closer,  so  as  to  speak  in  a  whis- 
per, —  "do  you  know,  that  I  do  be  fancying  the  strangest 
things  might  happen  to  us  yet,  —  that  Frank  might  be  a 
great  general,  and  Kate  married  to  God  knows  what  sort 
of  a  grandee,  with  money  enough  to  redeem  Mount  Dalton, 
and  lay  my  old  bones  in  the  churchyard  with  my  ancestors? 
I  can't  get  it  out  of  my  head  but  it  will  come  about, 
somehow.     "What  do  you  think  yourself?  " 

"I'm  but  an  indifferent  castle-builder,  papa,"  said  she, 
laughing  softly.  "I  rarely  attempt  anything  beyond  a 
peasant  hut  or  a  shealing." 

"And  nobody  could  make  the  one  or  the  other  more  neat 
and  comfortable,  that  I  '11  say  for  you,  Nelly.  It  would 
have  a  look  of  home  about  it  before  you  were  a  day  under 
the  roof." 

The  young  girl  blushed  deeply ;  for,  humble  as  the  praise 


190  THE  DALTONS. 

might  have  sounded  to  other  ears,  to  hers  it  was  the  most 
touching  she  could  have  listened  to. 

"I  'm  not  flattering  you  a  bit.  'T  is  your  own  mother  you 
take  after;  you  might  put  her  down  in  the  bleakest  spot 
of  Ireland,  and  't  is  a  garden  she  'd  make  it.  Let  her  stop 
for  shelter  in  a  cabin,  and  before  the  shower  was  over  you  'd 
not  know  the  place.  It  would  be  all  swept  and  clean,  and 
the  dishes  ranged  neatly  on  the  dresser;  and  the  pig  —  she 
could  n't  abide  a  pig  —  turned  out,  and  the  hens  driven  into 
the  cowshed,  and  the  children's  faces  washed,  and  their 
hair  combed,  and,  maybe,  the  little  gossoon  of  five  years 
old  upon  her  knee,  saying  his  '  Hail,  Mary,'  or  his  'ABC,' 
while  she  was  teaching  his  mother  how  to  wind  the  thread  off 
the  wheel;  for  she  could  spin  a  hank  of  yarn  as  well  as 
any  cottier's  wife  in  the  townland.  The  kind  creature  she 
was!  But  she  never  had  a  taste  for  real  diversion;  it 
always  made  her  low-spirited  and  sad." 

"  Perhaps  the  pleasures  you  speak  of  were  too  dearly  pur- 
chased, papa,"  said  Nelly. 

"Indeed,  maybe  they  were,"  said  he,  dubiously,  and  as 
though  the  thought  had  now  occurred  for  the  first  time; 
"and,  now  that  you  say  it,  I  begin  to  believe  it  was  that 
same  that  might  have  fretted  her.  The  way  she  was 
brought  up  made  her  think  so,  too.  That  brother  was 
always  talking  about  wastefulness,  and  extravagance,  and 
so  on ;  and,  if  it  was  in  her  nature,  he  'd  have  made  her  as 
stingy  as  himself;  and  look  what  it  comes  to  after  all. 
We  spent  it  when  we  had  it,  —  the  Daltons  are  a  good 
warrant  for  that;  and  there  was  he  grubbing  and  grab- 
bing all  his  days,  to  leave  it  after  him  to  a  rich  man,  that 
does  n't  know  whether  he  has  so  many  thousands  more  or 
not." 

Nelly  made  no  reply,  not  wishing  to  encourage,  by 
the  slightest  apparent  interest,  the  continuance  on  the 
theme  which  invariably  suggested  her  father's  gloomiest 
reveries. 

"Is  that  her  trunk,  Nelly?  "  said  Dalton,  breaking  silence 
after  a  long  interval,  and  pointing  to  an  old  and  journey- 
worn  valise  that  lay  half-open  upon  the  floor. 

"Yes,  papa,"  said  Nelly,  with  a  sigh. 


CARES  AND  CROSSES.  191 

"Why,  it's  a  mean-looking,  scrubby  bit  of  a  thing; 
sure  it 's  not  the  size  of  a  good  tea-chest,"  said  he, 
angrily. 

"And  yet  too  roomy  for  all  its  contents,  papa.  Poor 
Kate's  wardrobe  is  a  very  humble  one." 

"I  'd  like  to  know  where  's  the  shops  here;  where  's  the 
milliners  and  the  haberdashers?  Are  we  in  College  Green 
or  Grafton  Street,  that  we  can  just  send  out  and  have 
everything  at  our  hand's  turn?  'T  is  n't  on  myself  1  spend 
the  money.  Look  at  these  gaiters;  they  're  nine  years  old 
next  March ;  and  the  coat  on  my  back  was  made  by  Peter 
Stevens,  that 's  in  his  grave  now.  The  greatest  enemy  ever 
I  had  could  not  face  me  down  that  I  only  took  care  of 
myself.  If  that  was  my  way  would  I  be  here  now?  See 
the  rag  I  'm  wearing  round  my  throat,  —  a  piece  of  old 
worsted  like  a  rug  —  a  thing  —  " 

He  stopped,  and  stammered,  and  then  was  silent  alto- 
gether, for  he  suddenly  remembered  it  was  Nelly  herself 
who  had  worked  the  article  in  question. 

"Nay,  papa,"  broke  she  in,  with  her  own  happy  smile, 
"you  may  give  it  to  Andy  to-morrow,  for  I  've  made  you 
a  smart  new  one,  of  your  own  favorite  colors,  too,  —  the 
Dal  ton  green  and  white." 

"Many  a  time  I  've  seen  the  same  colors  coming  in  first 
on  the  Corralin  course!  "  cried  Dalton,  with  enthusiasm; 
for  at  the  impulse  of  a  new  word  his  mind  could  turn  from 
a  topic  of  deep  and  painful  interest  to  one  in  every  way  its 
opposite.  "You  were  too  young  to  remember  it;  but  you 
were  there,  in  the  '  landau,'  with  your  mother,  when  Baitber- 
shin  won  the  Murra  handicap,  the  finest  day's  flat  racing  — 
I  have  it  from  them  that  seen  the  best  in  England  —  that 
ever  was  run  in  the  kingdom.  I  won  eight  hundred  pounds 
on  it,  and,  by  the  same  token,  lost  it  all  in  the  evening  at 
'  blind  hookey '  with  old  Major  Haggs,  of  the  5th  Foot, 
—  not  to  say  a  trifle  more  besides.  —  And  that 's  her 
trunk!  "  said  he,  after  another  pause,  his  voice  dropping 
at  the  words,  as  though  to  say,  "What  a  change  of  fortune 
is  there!  "  "I  wonder  neither  of  you  hadn't  the  sense  to 
take  my  old  travelling  chest;  that's  twice  the  size,  and  as 
heavy  as  a  lead  coflSn,  besides.     Sorrow   one  would   ever 


192  THE  DALTONS. 

know  if  she  hadn't  clothes  for  a  whole  lifetime!  Two 
men  wouldn't  carry  it  upstairs  when  it's  empty." 

"When  even  this  valise  is  too  large,  papa?" 

"Oh  dear,  oh  dear!"  broke  in  Dalton;  "you've  no 
contrivance,  after  all.  Don't  you  see  that  it 's  not  what 's 
inside  I  'm  talking  about,  at  all,  but  the  show  before  the 
world?  Didn't  I  live  at  Mount  Dalton  on  the  fat  of  the 
land,  and  every  comfort  a  gentleman  could  ask,  five  years 
and  eight  months  after  I  was  ruined?  And  had  n't  I  credit 
wherever  I  went,  and  for  whatever  I  ordered?  And  why? 
Because  of  the  house  and  place!  I  was  like  the  big  trunk 
beyond;  nobody  knew  how  little  there  was  in  it.  Oh, 
Nelly  dear,  when  you  've  seen  as  much  of  life  as  me,  you  '11 
know  that  one  must  be  up  to  many  a  thing  for  appearance' 
sake." 

Nelly  sighed,  but  made  no  reply.  Perhaps  in  secret  she 
thought  how  much  trouble  a  little  sincerity  with  the  world 
would  save  us. 

"We  '11  be  mighty  lonesome  after  her,"  said  he,  after 
a  pause. 

Nelly  nodded  her  head  in  sadness. 

"I  was  looking  over  the  map  last  night,  and  it  ain't  so 
far  away,  after  all,"  said  Dalton.  "  'T  is  n't  much  more 
than  the  length  of  my  finger  on  the  paper." 

"Many  a  weary  mile  may  lie  within  that  space,"  said 
Nelly,  softly. 

"And  I  suppose  we'll  hear  from  her  every  week,  at 
least?"  said  Dalton,  whose  mind  vacillated  between  joy 
and  grief,  but  still  looked  for  its  greatest  consolations  from 
without. 

Poor  Nelly  was,  however,  little  able  to  furnish  these. 
Her  mind  saw  nothing  but  sorrow  for  the  present;  and, 
for  the  future,  difficulty,  if  not  danger. 

"You  give  one  no  comfort  at  all,"  said  Dalton,. rising 
impatiently.  "That's  the  way  it  will  be  always  now,  when 
Kate  goes.  No  more  gayety  in  the  house ;  not  a  song  not 
a  merry  laugh!  I  see  well  what  a  dreary  life  there  is  before 
me." 

"Oh,  dearest  papa,  I  '11  do  my  very  best,  — not  to  replace 
her,  for  that  I  never  could  do ;  but  to  make  your  days  less 


CARES  AND  CROSSES.  193 

wearisome.  It  will  be  such  pleasure,  too,  to  talk  of  her, 
and  think  of  her!  To  know  of  her  happiness,  and  to  fancy 
all  the  fair  stores  of  knowledge  she  will  bring  back  with 
her  when  she  comes  home  at  last ! " 

"If  I  could  only  live  to  see  them  back  again,  Frank  and 
Kate,  one  at  each  side  of  me,  that 's  all  I  ask  for  in  this 
world  now,"  muttered  he,  as  he  stole  noiselessly  away  and 
closed  the  door  behind  him. 


VOL.  I.  13 


CHAPTER   XIX. 

PREPARATIONS    FOR   THE    ROAD. 

If  the  arrival  of  a  great  family  at  an  hotel  be  a  scene  of 
unusual  bustle  and  excitement,  with  teeming  speculations 
as  to  the  rank  and  the  wealth  of  the  new-comers,  the  depart- 
ure has  also  its  interests,  and  even  of  a  higher  nature. 
In  the  former  case  all  is  vague,  shadowy,  and  uncertain. 
The  eye  of  the  spectator  wanders  from  the  muffled  figures 
as  they  descend,  to  scrutinize  the  lackeys,  and  even  the 
luggage,  as  indicative  of  the  strangers'  habits  and  condi- 
tion; and  even  to  the  shrewd  perceptions  of  that  dread 
functionary,  —  the  head  waiter,  —  the  identity  pf  the  travel- 
ler assumes  no  higher  form  nor  any  more  tangible  shape 
than  that  they  are  No.  42  or  57. 

When  the  hour  of  leave-taking  has  come,  however,  their 
characters  have  become  known,  their  tastes  and  habits 
understood,  and  no  mean  insight  obtained  into  their  preju- 
dices, their  passions,  and  their  pursuits.  The  imposing 
old  gentleman,  whose  rubicund  nose  and  white  waistcoat  are 
the  guarantees  for  a  taste  in  port,  has  already  inspired  the 
landlord  with  a  sincere  regard.  "My  Lady's"  half-invalid 
caprices  about  diet,  and  air,  and  sunshine,  have  all  written 
themselves  legibly  in  "the  bill."  The  tall  son's  champagne 
score  incurred  of  a  night,  and  uncounted  of  a  morning, 
are  not  unrecorded  virtues;  while  even  the  pale  young 
ladies,  whose  sketching  propensities  involved  donkeys, 
and  ponies,  and  picnics,  go  not  unremembered. 

Their  hours  of  rising  and  retiring,  their  habits  of  society  or 
seclusion,  their  preferences  for  the  "Post"  or  the  "Times," 
have  all  silently  been  ministering  to  the  estimate  formed  of 
them;  so  that  in  the  commonest  items  of  the  hotel  ledger 
are   the  materials  for  their  history.     And  with  what  true 


PREPARATIONS  FOR  THE  ROAD.  196 

charity  are  their  characters  weighed!  How  readily  does 
mine  host  forgive  the  transgressions  which  took  their  origin 
in  his  own  Burgundy!  how  blandly  smile  at  the  follies 
begotten  of  his  Johannisberg !  With  what  angelic  temper 
does  the  hostess  pardon  the  little  liberties  "young  gentle- 
men from  college  will  take !  "  Oh,  if  our  dear,  dear  friends 
would  but  read  us  with  half  the  charity,  or  even  bestow 
upon  our  peccadilloes  a  tithe  of  this  forgiveness!  And 
why  should  it  not  be  so?  What  are  these  same  friends 
and  acquaintances  but  guests  in  the  same  great  inn  which 
we  call  "the  world"  ?  and  who,  as  they  never  take  upon 
them  to  settle  our  score,  need  surely  not  trouble  themselves 
about  the  "items." 

While  the  Daltons  were  still  occupied  in  the  manner 
our  last  chapter  has  described,  the  "Hotel  de  Russie"  was 
a  scene  of  considerable  bustle,  the  preparations  for  de- 
parture engaging  every  department  of  the  household  within 
doors  and  without.  There  were  carriage-springs  to  be 
lashed  with  new  cordage,  drag-chains  new  tipped  with 
steel,  axles  to  smear,  hinges  to  oil,  imperials  to  buckle  on, 
cap-cases  to  be  secured ;  and  then  what  a  deluge  of  small 
articles  to  be  stowed  away  in  most  minute  recesses,  and 
yet  be  always  at  hand  when  called  for !  —  cushions  and 
cordials,  and  chauffe-pieds  and  "Quarterlies,"  smelling- 
boxes  and  slippers,  and  spectacles  and  cigar-cases,  journals 
and  "John  Murray s,"  to  be  disposed  of  in  the  most  conven- 
ient places.  Every  corridor  and  landing  was  blocked  up 
with  baggage,  and  the  courier  wiped  his  forehead,  and 
*''sacre'd  "  in  half  desperation  at  the  mountain  of  trunks 
and  portmanteaus  that  lay  before  him. 

"This  is  not  ours,"  said  he,  as  he  came  to  a  very  smart 
valise  of  lacquered  leather,  with  the  initials  A.  J.  in  brass 
on  the  top. 

"No,  that 's  Mr.  Jekyl's,"  said  Mr.  George's  man,  Twig. 
*'He  ain't  a-goin'  with  j/ou  ;  he  travels  in  our  britzska." 

"I'm  more  like  de  conducteur  of  a  diligenz  than  a  family 
courier,"  muttered  the  other,  sulkily.  "I  know  noting  of 
de  baggage,  since  we  take  up  strangers  at  every  stage!  and 
always  arme  Teufeln  —  poor  devils  —  that  have  not  a  sou 
en  poche ! " 


196  THE  DALTONS. 

"What's  the  matter  now,  Mister  Greg'ry?"  said  Twig, 
who  very  imperfectly  understood  the  other's  jargon. 

"  The  matter  is,  1  will  resign  my  '  fonction  '  —  je  m'en 
vais  —  dat  's  ail !  This  is  noting  besser  than  an  'Eil  wagen' 
mit  passengers!  Fust  of  all  we  have  de  doctor,  as  dey 
call  him,  wid  his  stuff  birds  and  beasts,  his  dried  blumen 
and  sticks,  till  de  roof  is  like  de  Jardin  des  Plantes  at 
Paris,  and  he  himself  like  de  bear  in  de  middle.  Den  we 
have  das  verfluchte  parroquet  of  milady,  and  Flounce,  de 
lapdog,  dat  must  drink  every  post-station,  and  run  up  all 
de  hills  for  exercise.  Dam!  Ich  bin  kein  Hund,  and 
need  n't  run  up  de  hills  too!  Mademoiselle  Celestine  have 
a  what  d'  ye  call  '  Affe  '  —  a  ape ;  and  though  he  be  little,  a 
reg'lar  teufelchen  to  hide  de  keys  and  de  money,  when  he 
find  'em.  And  den  dere  is  de  yong  lady  collectin'  all  de 
stones  off  de  road,  —  lauter  paving-stones,  —  which  she 
smash  wid  a  leetle  hammer!  Ach  Gott,  what  is  de  world 
grow  when  a  Fraulein  fall  in  love  wid  Felsen  and  Steine! " 

"Monsieur  Gregoire!  Monsieur  Gregoire !  "  screamed  out 
a  sharp  voice  from  a  window  overhead. 

"Mademoiselle,"  replied  he,  politely  touching  his  cap  to 
the  femme-de-chambre. 

"  Be  good  enough.  Monsieur  Gregoire,  to  have  my  trunks 
taken  down ;  there  are  two  in  the  fourgon,  and  a  cap-case 
on  the  large  carriage." 

"Hagel  and  Sturm!  dey  are  under  everything.  How 
am  I  —  " 

"I  can't  possibly  say,"  broke  she  in;  "but  it  must  be 
done." 

"Can't  you  wait,  Mademoiselle,  till  we  reach  Basle?" 

"I'm  going  away.  Monsieur  Gregoire.  I'm  off  to 
Paris,"  was  the  reply,  as  the  speaker  closed  the  sash  and 
disappeared. 

"What  does  she  say?"  inquired  Twig,  who,  as  this 
dialogue  was  carried  on  in  French,  was  in  total  ignorance 
of  its  meaning. 

"She  has  given  her  demission,"  said  the  courier,  pom- 
pously. "Resign  her  portefeuille,  and  she  have  made  a 
very  bad  affair;  dat's  all.  Your  gros  milor  is  very  often 
bien  bete;  he  is  very  often  rude,  savage,  forget  his  man- 


PREPARATIONS  FOR  THE  ROAD.        197 

ners,  and  all  dat  —  but "  —  and  here  his  voice  swelled  into 
the  full  soundness  of  a  perfect  connection  —  "but  he  is 
alway  rich.  Ja  —  ja,  immer  reich !  "  said  he  over  to  him- 
self. "Allons!  now  to  get  at  her  verdammte  baggage, 
—  de  two  trunks,  and  de  leetle  box,  and  de  ape,  and  de 
sac,  and  de  four  or  five  baskets.  Diable  d'affaire!  Mon- 
sieur Tig,  do  me  de  grace  to  mount  on  high  dere,  and  give 
me  dat  box." 

"I  've  nothing  to  say  to  your  carriage.  Mister  Greg'ry. 
I  'm  the  captain's  gentleman,  and  never  do  take  any  but  a 
single-handed  situation;"  and  with  this  very  haughty 
speech  Mr.  Twig  lighted  a  fresh  cigar  and  strolled 
away. 

"Alle  bose  Teufeln  holen  de  good  for  nichts,"  sputtered 
Gregoire,  who  now  waddled  into  the  house  to  seek  for 
assistance. 

Whatever  apathy  and  indifference  he  might  have  met  with 
from  the  English  servants,  the  people  of  the  hotel  were  like 
his  bond-slaves.  Old  and  young,  men  and  women,  the 
waiter,  and  the  ostler,  and  the  chambermaid,  and  that 
strange  species  of  grande  iitilite,  which  in  German  house- 
holds goes  by  the  name  of  "Haus-knecht,"  —  a  compound  of 
boots,  scullion,  porter,  pimp,  and  drudge,  —  were  all  at  his 
command.  Nor  was  he  an  over-mild  monarch;  a  running 
fire  of  abuse  and  indignity  accompanied  every  order  he 
gave,  and  he  stimulated  their  alacrity  by  the  most  insult- 
ing allusions  to  their  personal  defects  and  deficiencies. 

Seated  upon  a  capacious  cap-case,  with  his  courier's  cap 
set  jauntily  on  one  side,  his  meerschaum  like  a  sceptre  in 
his  hand,  Gregoire  gave  out  his  edicts  right  royally,  and 
soon  the  courtyard  was  strewn  with  trunks,  boxes,  and  bags 
of  every  shape,  size,  and  j3olor.  The  scene,  indeed,  was 
not  devoid  of  tumult;  for,  while  each  of  the  helpers 
screamed  away  at  the  top  of  his  throat,  and  Gregoire 
rejoined  m  shouts  that  would  have  done  credit  to  a  bull, 
the  parrot  gave  vent  to  the  most  terrific  cries  and  yells  as 
the  ape  poked  him  through  the  bars  of  his  cage  with  the 
handle  of  a  parasol. 

"There,  that's  one  of  them,"  cried  out  Monsieur  Gre- 
goire; "that  round  box  beside  you;  down  with  it  here." 


198  THE  DALTONS. 

"Monsieur  Gregoire!  Monsieur  Gre'goire!"  cried  Made- 
moiselle from  the  window  once  more. 

The  courier  looked  up,  and  touched  his  cap. 

"I'm  not  going,  Monsieur  Gregoire;  the  affair  is 
arranged." 

"Ah!  I  am  charmed  to  hear  it,  Mademoiselle,"  said  he, 
smiling  in  seeming  ecstasy,  while  he  muttered  a  malediction 
between  his  teeth. 

"Miladi  has  made  submission,  and  I  forgive  everything. 
You  must  pardon  all  the  trouble  I  've  given  you." 

"These  happy  tidings  have  made  me  forget  it,"  said  he, 
with  a  smile  that  verged  upon  a  grin.  "Peste!  "  growled 
he,  under  his  breath,  "we  'd  unpacked  the  whole  fourgon." 

"Ah,  que  vous  etes  aimable!  "  said  she,  sighing. 

"Belle  tigresse!"  exclaimed  he,  returning  the  leer  she 
bestowed ;  and  the  window  was  once  more  closed  upon  her 
exit.  "I  submitted  to  the  labor,  in  the  hope  we  had  done 
with  you  forever,"  said  he,  wiping  his  forehead;  "and  la 
voila  —  there  you  are  —  back  again.  Throw  that  ape  down ; 
away  wid  him,  cursed  beast!  "  cried  he,  venting  his  spite 
upon  the  minion,  since  he  dare  not  attack  the  mistress. 
"But  what  have  we  here?" 

This  latter  exclamation  was  caused  by  the  sudden  entrance 
into  the  courtyard  of  two  porters  carrying  an  enormous 
trunk,  whose  iron  fastenings  and  massive  padlock  gave  it 
the  resemblance  of  an  emigrant's  sea-chest.  A  few  paces 
behind  walked  Mr.  Dalton,  followed  again  by  Old  Andy, 
who,  with  a  huge  oil-silk  umbrella  under  one  arm,  and  a 
bundle  of  cloaks,  shawls,  and  hoods  on  the  other,  made  hi& 
way  with  no  small  difficulty. 

Gregoire  surveyed  the  procession  with  cool  amazement, 
and  then,  with  a  kind  of  mock  jcivility,  he  touched  his  cap,, 
and  said,  "You  have  mistak  de  road,  saar;  de  diligenz- 
office  is  over  de  way." 

"And  who  told  you  I  wanted  it?"  said  Dalton,  sternly. 
"Maybe  I'm  just  where  I  ought  to  be!  Isn't  this  Sir 
Stafford  Onslow's  coach?" 

"Yes,  saar;  but  you  please  to  remember  it  is  not  de  '  Ell 
wagen. ' " 

"Just  hold  your  prate,  my  little  chap,  and  it  will  be 


PREPARATIONS  FOR  THE  ROAD.        199 

pleasanter,  and  safer,  —  ay,  safer,  too,  d'  ye  mind  ?  You 
see  that  trunk  there ;  it 's  to  go  up  with  the  luggage  and  be 
kept  dry,  for  there  's  valuable  effects  inside." 

"Datis  not  a  trunk;  it  is  a  sentry-house,  a  watsch-box. 
No  gentleman's  carriage  ever  support  a  ting  of  dat 
dimension!  " 

"It 's  a  trunk,  and  belongs  to  me,  and  my  name  is  Peter 
Dalton,  as  the  letters  there  will  show  you;  and  so  no  more 
about  it,  but  put  it  up  at  once." 

"I  have  de  orders  about  a  young  lady's  luggage,  but 
none  about  a  great  coffin  with  iron  hoops,"  said  Gregoire, 
tartly. 

"Be  quiet,  now,  and  do  as  I  tell  you,  my  little  chap. 
Put  these  trifles,  too,  somewhere  inside,  and  this  umbrella 
in  a  safe  spot;  and  here  's  a  little  basket,  with  a  cold  pie 
and  a  bottle  of  wine  in  it." 

"Himmel  und  Erde!  how  you  tink  milady  travel  mit  dass 
schweinerei  ?  " 

"  It 's  not  pork ;  't  is  mutton,  and  a  pigeon  in  the  middle," 
said  Dalton,  mistaking  his  meaning.  "I  brought  a  taste 
of  cheese,  too;  but  it 's  a  trifle  high,  and  maybe  it's  as  well 
not  to  send  it." 

"  Is  the  leetle  old  man  to  go  too  ?  "  asked  Gregoire,  with 
an  insolent  grin,  and  not  touching  the  profanation  of  either 
cheese  or  basket. 

"That 's  my  own  servant,  and  he  's  not  going,"  said 
Dalton;  "and  now  that  you  know  my  orders,  just  stir 
yourself  a  little,  my  chap,  for  I  'm  not  going  to  spend  my 
time  here  with  you." 

A  very  deliberate  stare,  without  uttering  a  word,  was  all 
the  reply  Gregoire  returned  to  this  speech;  and  then, 
addressing  himself  to  the  helpers,  he  gave  some  orders  in 
German  about  the  other  trunks.  Dalton  waited  patiently 
for  some  minutes,  but  no  marks  of  attention  showed  that 
the  courier  even  remembered  his  presence;  and  at  last  he 
said,  — 

"I  'm  waiting  to  see  that  trunk  put  up;  d'  ye  hear  me?" 

"I  hear  ver  well,  but  I  mind  noting  at  all,"  said  Gregoire, 
with  a  grin. 

"Oh,  that 's  it,"  said  Dalton,  smiling,  but  with  a  twinkle 


200  THE  DALTONS. 

in  his  gray  eyes  that,  had  the  other  known  him  better,  he 
would  scarcely  have  fancied, — "that's  it,  then!"  And 
taking  the  umbrella  from  beneath  Andy's  arm,  he  walked 
deliberately  across  the  yard  to  where  a  large  tank  stood, 
and  which,  fed  from  a  small  jet  d'eau,  served  as  a  watering- 
place  for  the  post-horses.  Some  taper  rods  of  ice  now  stood 
up  in  the  midst,  and  a  tolerably  thick  coating  covered  the 
surface  of  the  basin. 

Gregoire  could  not  help  watching  the  proceedings  of  the 
stranger,  as  with  the  iron-shod  umbrella  he  smashed  the 
ice  in  one  or  two  places,  piercing  the  mass  till  the  water 
spouted  up  through  the  apertures. 

"Have  you  any  friend  who  live  dere?  "  said  the  courier, 
sneeringly,  as  the  sound  of  the  blows  resembled  the  noise 
of  a  door-knocker. 

"Not  exactly,  my  man,"  said  Dal  ton,  calmly;  "but  some- 
thing like  it." 

"What  is  't  you  do,  den?"  asked  Gregoire,  curiously. 

"I'll  tell  you,"  said  Dalton.  "I'm  breaking  the  ice  for 
a  new  acquaintance;"  and,  as  he  spoke,  he  seized  the 
courier  by  the  stout  leather  belt  which  he  wore  around  his 
waist,  and,  notwithstanding  his  struggles  and  his  weight, 
he  jerked  him  off  the  ground,  and,  with  a  swing,  would 
have  hurled  him  head  foremost  into  the  tank,  when,  the 
leather  giving  way,  he  fell  heavily  to  the  ground,  almost 
senseless  from  shock  and  fright  together.  "You  may  thank 
that  strap  for  your  escape,"  said  Dalton,  contemptuously, 
as  he  threw  towards  him  the  fragments  of  broken  leather. 

"I  will  have  de  law,  and  de  polizei,  and  de  Gericht.  I 
will  have  you  in  de  Kerker,  in  chains,  for  dis ! "  screamed 
Gregoire,  half  choked  with  passion. 

"May  I  never  see  peace,  but  if  you  don't  hold  your  prate 
I  '11  put  you  in  it!  Sit  up  there,  and  mind  your  business; 
and,  above  all,  be  civil,  and  do  what  you  're  bid." 

"I  will  fort;  I  will  away.  Noting  make  me  remain  in 
de  service,"  said  Gregoire,  brushing  off  the  dirt  from  his 
sleeve,  and  shaking  his  cap.  "  I  am  respectable  courier 
—  travel  wid  de  Ftirsten  vom  Koniglichen  Haiisen  —  mit 
Russen,  Franzosen,  Ostereichen ;  never  mit  barbaren,  never 
mit  de  wilde  animalen." 


PREPARATIONS  FOR  THE  ROAD. 


201 


"Don't,  now  —  don't,  I  tell  you,"  said  Dalton,  with  an- 
other of  those  treacherous  smiles  whose  expression  the 
courier  began  to  comprehend.  "No  balderdash!  no  non- 
sense !    but  go  to  your  work,  like  a  decent  servant." 

"  I  am  no  Diener;  no  serve  anybody,"  cried  the  courier, 
indignantly. 


But  somehow  there  was  that  in  old  Dalton's  face  that 
gave  no  encouragement  to  an  open  resistance,  and  Mon- 
sieur Gregoire  knew  well  the  case  where  compliance  was 
the  wisest  policy.  He  also  knew  that  in  his  vocation  there 
lay  a  hundred  petty  vengeances  more  than  sufficient  to  pay 
off  any  indignity  that  could  be  inflicted  upon  him.  "  I 
will  wait  my  times,"  was  the  reflection  with  which  he 
soothed  down  his  rage,  and  affected  to  forget  the  insult 
he  had  just  suffered  under. 


202  THE  DALTONS. 

Dal  ton,  whose  mind  was  cast  in  a  very  different  mould, 
and  who  could  forgive  either  himself  or  his  neighbor  with- 
out any  great  exertion  of  temper,  turned  now  coolly  away, 
and  sauntered  out  into  the  street.  The  flush  of  momentary 
anger  that  colored  his  cheek  had  fled,  and  a  cast  of  pale 
and  melancholy  meaning  sat  upon  his  features,  for  his  eye 
rested  on  the  little  wooden  bridge  which  crossed  the  stream, 
and  where  now  two  muflfled  figures  were  standing,  that  he 
recognized  as  his  daughters. 

They  were  leaning  on  the  balustrade,  and  gazing  at  the 
mountain  that,  covered  with  its  dense  pine-wood,  rose 
abruptly  from  the  river-side.  It  had  been  the  scene  of 
many  a  happy  ramble  in  the  autumn,  of  many  a  delightful 
excursion,  when,  with  Frank,  they  used  to  seek  for  frag- 
ments of  wood  that  suited  Nelly's  sculptui'es.  How  often 
had  they  carried  their  little  basket  up  yonder  steep  path, 
to  eat  their  humble  supper  upon  the  rock,  from  which  the 
setting  sun  could  be  seen !  There  was  not  a  cliff  nor  crag, 
not  a  mossy  slope,  not  a  grass  bank,  they  did  not  know; 
and  now,  as  they  looked,  all  the  past  moments  of  pleasure 
were  crowding  upon  their  memory,  tinged  with  the  sad 
foreboding  that  they  were  never  again  to  be  renewed. 

"That's  the  Riesen  Fels,  Nelly,  yonder,"  said  Kate,  as 
she  pointed  to  a  tall  dark  rock,  on  whose  slopes  the  drift- 
ing snow  had  settled.  "  How  sad  and  dreary  it  is,  com- 
pared with  what  it  seemed  on  Frank's  birthday,  when  the 
nightingale  was  singing  overhead,  and  the  trickling  stream 
came  sparkling  along  the  grass  when  we  sat  together.  I 
can  bear  to  part  with  it  better  thus  than  if  all  were  as 
beautiful  as  then." 

Nelly  sighed,  and  grasped  her  sister's  hand  closer,  but 
made  no  answer. 

"Do  you  remember  poor  Hanserl's  song,  and  his  little 
speech  all  about  our  meeting  there  again  in  the  next  year, 
Nelly?" 

"  I  do,"  said  Nelly,  in  a  low  and  whispering  voice. 

"  And  then  Frank  stood  up,  with  his  little  gilt  goblet, 
and  said,  — 

'  With  hearts  as  free  from  grief  or  care, 
Here 's  to  our  happy ' 


PREPARATIONS  FOR  THE  ROAD.  203 

*  Wiederkehr,'  cried  Hanserl,  supplying  the  word  so  aptly. 
How  we  all  laughed,  Nelly,  at  his  catching  the  rhyme !  " 

"I  remember!"   sighed  Nelly,  still  lower. 

"What  are  you  thinking  of,  Nelly  dearest?"  said  Kate, 
as  she  stood  for  a  few  seconds  gazing  at  the  sorrow-struck 
features  of  the  other. 

"I  was  thinking,  dearest,"  said  Nelly,  "that  when  we 
were  met  together  there  on  that  night,  none  of  us  foresaw 
what  since  has  happened.  Not  the  faintest  suspicion  of 
a  separation  crossed  our  minds.  Our  destinies,  whatever 
else  might  betide,  seemed  at  least  bound  up  together.  Our 
very  poverty  was  like  the  guarantee  of  our  unity,  and  yet 
see  what  has  come  to  pass  —  Frank  gone ;  you,  Kate,  go- 
ing to  leave  us  now.  How  shall  we  speculate  on  the 
future,  then,  when  the  past  has  so  betrayed  us?  How  pilot 
our  course  in  the  storm,  when,  even  in  the  calm,  still  sea, 
we  have  wandered  from  the  track  ?  " 

"Nelly!  Nelly!  every  moment  I  feel  more  faint-hearted 
at  the  thought  of  separation.  It  is  as  though,  in  the  in- 
dulgence of  a  mere  caprice,  I  were  about  to  incur  some 
great  hazard.     Is  it  thus  it  appears  to  you?" 

"  With  what  expectations  do  you  look  forward  to  this 
great  world  you  are  going  to  visit,  Kate?  Is  it  mere  curi- 
osity to  see  with  your  own  eyes  the  brilliant  scenes  of  which 
you  have  only  read?  Is  it  with  the  hope  of  finding  that 
elegance  and  goodness  are  sisters,  that  refinement  of  man- 
ners is  the  constant  companion  of  noble  sentiments  and 
right  actions ;  or,  does  there  lurk  in  your  heart  the  longing 
for  a  sphere  wherein  you  yourself  might  contest  for  the  prize 
of  admiration?  Oh,  if  this  have  a  share  in  your  wishes, 
my  own  dear  sister,  beware  of  it.  The  more  worthy  you 
are  of  such  homage,  the  greater  is  your  peril !  It  is  not 
that  I  am  removed  from  all  temptations  of  this  kind ;  it  is 
not  because  I  have  no  attractions  of  beauty,  that  I  speak 
thus  —  even  poor,  lame  Nelly  cannot  tear  from  her  woman's 
heart  the  love  of  admiration.  But  for  you,  I  fear,  —  for 
you,  Kate,  to  whom  these  temptations  will  be  heightened  by 
your  own  deservings.  You  are  beautiful,  and  you  blush  as 
I  speak  the  word  ;  but  what  if  the  time  come  when  you  will 
hear  it  unmoved  ?    The  modest  sense  of  shame  gone,  what 


204  THE  DALTONS. 

will  replace  it?  Pride  —  yes,  my  dear  sister,  Pride  and 
Ambition !  You  will  long  for  a  station  more  in  accordance 
with  your  pretensions,  more  suited  to  your  tastes." 

"How  you  wrong  me,  Nelly!"  burst  Kate  in.  "The 
brightest  dream  of  all  this  brilliant  future  is  the  hope  that 
I  may  come  back  to  3'ou  more  worthy  of  3'our  love ;  that, 
imbibing  some  of  those  traits  whose  fascinations  we  have 
already  felt,  I  may  bring  beneath  our  humble  roof  some 
memories,  at  least,  to  beguile  your  toil." 

"  Oh,  if  that  time  should  come !  " 

"  And  it  will  come,  dearest  Nelly,"  said  Kate,  as  she 
threw  her  arms  around  her,  and  kissed  her  affectionately. 
"  But,  see  !  there  is  papa  yonder ;  he  is  beckoning  to  us  to 
join  him ;  "  and  the  two  girls  hastened  forward  to  where 
Dalton  was  standing,  at  the  corner  of  the  street. 

"I'm  thinking  we  ought  to  go  up  there,  now,"  said 
Dalton,  with  a  motion  of  his  hand  in  the  direction  of  the 
hotel.     "  Take  my  arm,  each  of  you." 

They  obeyed,  and  walked  along  in  silence,  till  they 
reached  the  inn,  where  Dalton  entered,  with  a  certain  as- 
sumed ease  and  confidence,  that  very  commonly,  with  him, 
covered  a  weak  purpose  and  a  doubting  spirit. 

"  Is  Sir  Stafford  at  home,  or  Lady  Onslow?  "  asked  he  of 
Mr.  Twig,  who,  with  a  cigar  in  his  mouth,  and  a  "  Galig- 
nani "  in  his  hand,  never  rose  from  the  seat  he  occupied. 

"  Can't  say,  sir,"  was  the  cool  response,  which  he  deliv- 
ered without  lifting  his  ej'es  from  the  newspaper. 

"Do  you  know,  ma'am?"  said  he,  addressing  Made- 
moiselle Celestine,  who  happened  to  pass  at  the  moment  — 
"  do  you  know,  ma'am,  if  Lady  Onslow  's  at  home?" 

"She  never  receive  in  de  morning,"  was  the  curt  reply. 
And,  with  a  very  impudent  stare  at  the  two  sisters,  whose 
dress  imposed  no  restraint  upon  her  insolence,  mademoi- 
selle flounced  past.  "  Come  along,  girls,"  said  Dalton, 
angrily,  and  offended  that  he  should  appear  to  his  children 
as  if  wanting  in  worldly  tact  and  knowledge  —  "come 
with  me ;  "  and  he  proceeded  boldly  up  stairs. 

A  folding-door  lay  open  before  them  into  a  large  chamber, 
littered  with  boxes,  trunks,  and  travelling  gear  of  all  kinds. 
Making  his  way  through  these,  while  he  left  his  daughters 


PREPARATIONS  FOR  THE  ROAD.        205 

outside,  Dalton  approached  a  door  that  led  into  an  inner 
room,  and  knocked  sharply  at  it  with  his  knuckles. 

"  You  may  take  it  away  now ;  1  've  used  cold  water !  "  cried 
a  voice  from  within,  that  at  once  proclaimed  Dr.  Grounsell. 

Dalton  repeated  his  summons  more  confidently. 

"Go  to  the  devil,  I  say,"  cried  the  doctor;  "you've 
made  me  cut  my  chin ;  "  and  the  enraged  Grounsell,  with 
his  face  covered  with  lather,  and  streaming  with  blood, 
flung  open  the  door  in  a  passion.  "Oh,  Dalton,  this  you, 
and  the  ladies  here !  "  said  he,  springing  back  ashamed,  as 
Kate's  hearty  burst  of  laughter  greeted  him.  "  Come  in, 
Dalton,  come  in,"  said  he,  dragging  the  father  forward 
and  shutting  the  door  upon  him.  "I  was  longing  to  see 
you,  man ;  I  was  just  thinking  how  I  could  have  five 
minutes'  talk  with  you.  What  answer  have  you  given  to 
the  letter  they  've  sent  you  ?  " 

"  What  d'  ye  think?"  said  Dalton,  jocularly,  as  he  seated 
himself  in  a  comfortable  chair. 

"What  do  I  think?"  repeated  he,  twice  or  thrice  over. 
"  Egad,  I  don't  know  what  to  think  !  I  only  know  what  to 
hope,  and  wish  it  may  have  been !  " 

"And what's  that?"  said  Dalton,  with  a  look  of  almost 
sternness,  for  he  was  not  ignorant  of  the  doctor's  sentiments 
on  the  subject. 

"A  refusal,  of  course,"  said  Grounsell,  who  never  yet 
was  deterred  by  a  look,  a  sign,  or  an  innuendo,  from  any 
expression  of  his  sentiments. 

"And  why  so,  sir?"  rejoined  Dalton,  warmly. 

"On  every  ground  in  the  world;  What  has  your  fine, 
generous-hearted,  dear  child  in  common  with  that  vile  world 
of  envy,  malice,  and  all  wickedness  you  'd  throw  her 
amongst?  What  similarity  in  thought,  feeling,  or  instinct 
between  her  and  that  artificial  class  with  whom  you  would 
associate  her,  with  their  false  honor,  false  principle,  and 
false  delicacy  —  nothing  real  and  substantial  about  them 
but  their  wickedness?  If  you  were  a  silly  woman,  like  the 
mother  in  the  'Vicar  of  Wakefield,'  I  could  forgive  you; 
but  a  man  —  a  hardened,  worldly  man,  that  has  tasted 
poverty,  and  knows  the  rubs  of  life  —  I  've  no  patience  with 
you,  d — n  me  if  I  have !  " 


206  THE  DALTONS. 

"  A  little  more  of  this,  and  I  '11  have  none  with  2/om," 
said  Dalton,  as  he  clenched  his  fist,  and  struck  his  knee  a 
hard  blow.  "  You  presume  to  talk  of  us  as  people  whose 
station  was  always  what  our  present  means  imply;  but 
I  'd  have  you  to  know  that  we  've  better  blood  in  our 
veins  —  " 

"Devil  take  your  blood!  you've  made  me  spill  mine 
again,"  cried  Grounsell,  as  he  sliced  a  piece  off  his  chin, 
and  thi'ew  down  the  razor  in  a  torrent  of  anger,  while 
Dalton  grinned  a  look  of  malicious  satisfaction.  "  Could  n't 
your  good  blood  have  kept  you  above  anything  like  de- 
pendence ?  " 

Dalton  sprang  to  his  feet,  and  clutching  the  chair,  raised 
it  in  the  air ;  but  as  suddenly  dashed  it  on  the  floor  again, 
without  speaking. 

"Go  on,"  cried  Grounsell,  daring  him.  "I'd  rather 
you  'd  break  my  skull  than  that  dear  girl's  heart ;  and  that 's 
what  you  're  bent  on.  Ay,  break  her  heart !  no  less.  You 
can't  terrify  me,  man,  by  those  angry  looks.  You  can't 
wound  me,  either,  by  retaliating,  and  calling  me  a  dependant. 
I  know  I  am  such.  I  know  well  £lll  the  ignominy,  all  the 
shame ;  but  I  know,  too,  all  the  misery  of  the  position. 
But,  mark  me,  the  disgrace  and  the  sorrow  end  where  they 
begin,  —  with  myself  alone.  I  have  none  to  blush  for  me ; 
I  stand  alone  in  the  world,  a  poor,  scathed,  sapless,  leafless 
trunk.  But  it  is  not  so  with  i/ou.  Come,  come,  Dalton, 
you  fancy  that  you  know  something  of  life  because  you 
have  passed  so  many  years  of  it  among  your  equals  and 
neighbors  in  your  own  country;  but  you  know  nothing  — 
absolutely  nothing  —  of  the  world  as  it  exists  here." 

A  hearty  but  contemptuous  laugh  broke  from  Dalton 
as  he  heard  this  speech.  It  was  indeed  somewhat  of  a 
surprise  to  listen  to  such  a  charge.  He,  Peter  Dalton, 
that  knew  a  spavined  horse,  or  could  detect  a  windgall 
better  than  any  man  in  the  county ;  he,  that  never  was 
"taken  in"  by  a  roarer,  nor  deceived  by  a  crib-biter,  —  to 
tell  him  that  he  knew  nothing  of  life ! 

"That'll  do,  doctor,  —  that'll  do,"  said  he,  with  a  most 
compassionating  smile  at  the  other's  ignorance.  "  I  hope 
you  know  more  about  medicine  than  you  seem  to  do  about 


PREPARATIONS  FOR  THE  ROAD. 


207 


men  and  women ; "  and,  with  these  words,  he  left  the 
room,  banging  the  door  after  him  as  he  went,  and  actually 
ashamed  that  he  had  been  betrayed  into  warmth  by  one 
so  evidently  deficient  in  the  commonest  knowledge  of  the 
world. 


"  I  'm  sorry  I  kept  yon  waiting,  girls,"  said  he,  approach- 
ing them.  "And,  indeed,  I  might  have  spent  my  time 
better,  too.  But  no  matter ;  we  must  try  and  find  out  her 
Ladyship  now,  for  the  morning  is  slipping  over." 

As  he  spoke,  George  Onslow  appeared,  and  recognizing 
the  party  with  much  cordiality,  conducted  them  to  the  break- 
fast-room, where  Sir  Stafford,  Lady  Hester,  and  Miss 
Onslow   were   seated.     If   Sydney's   reception   of   the   two 


208  THE  DALTONS. 

sisters  was  less  enthusiastic  than  Lady  Hester's,  it  was  not 
less  kind.  Nelly  was  won  almost  instantaneously  by  the 
unaffected  ease  and  simplicity  of  her  manner.  As  for 
Dalton  himself,  her  Ladyship  had  determined  to  carry  him 
by  storm.  She  suffered  him  to  declaim  about  his  ancestors 
and  their  wealth ;  heard  him  with  assumed  interest  in  all 
his  interminable  stories  of  Daltons  for  six  generations; 
and  artfully  opposed  to  his  regrets  at  the  approaching  de- 
parture of  his  daughter  the  ingenious  consolation  that  she 
was  not  about  to  sojourn  with  mere  strangers,  but  with 
those  united  to  her  by  the  ties  of  kindred.  George  had, 
meanwhile,  made  two  or  three  efforts  to  engage  Kate  in 
conversation ;  but,  whether  from  the  preoccupation  of  her 
mind,  agitated  as  it  well  might  be  at  such  a  moment,  or 
that  his  topics  were  so  utterly  new  and  strange  to  her,  his 
attempt  was  not  attended  with  any  signal  success.  A  sense 
of  shame,  too,  at  the  disparity  of  her  own  and  her  sister's 
appearance,  in  contrast  with  the  quiet  elegance  of  Lady 
Hester  and  Miss  Onslow's  dress,  oppressed  her.  Strange 
was  it  that  this  feeling  should  have  agitated  her  now,  —  she 
who  always  hitherto  had  never  wasted  a  thought  on  such 
matters,  and  yet  she  felt  it  acutely;  and  as  she  glanced 
from  the  rustling  robe  of  silk  to  the  folds  of  her  own 
homely  costume,  her  heart  beat  painfully,  and  her  breathing 
came  short.  "Was  she  already  changed,  that  thoughts  like 
these  could  impress  her  so  strongly?  Had  Adam's  first 
shame  descended  to  his  daughter?  "How  unlike  I  am  to 
them !  "  was  the  bitter  thought  that  rose  to  her  mind,  and 
ate  like  a  cancer  into  her  heart. 

The  sense  of  inferiority,  galling  and  torturing  as  it  is, 
becomes  infinitely  more  unendurable  when  connected  with 
matters  of  trivial  importance.  There  is  a  sense  of  indignant 
anger  in  the  feeling  that  we  are  surpassed  by  what  seem  the 
mere  conventionalities  and  tricks  of  society,  and  although 
Kate  knew  not  the  source  of  her  unhappiness,  some  of  it  lay 
in  this  fact.  Every  little  gesture,  every  motion,  the  merest 
peculiarities  of  voice  or  accent,  now  struck  her  as  distinctive 
of  a  class,  — a  class  to  which  no  imitation  would  ever  give 
her  a  resemblance.  If  it  were  not  for  very  shame,  she  would 
have  drawn  back  now  at  the  eleventh  hour.     More  than  once 


^ 


PREPARATIONS  FOR  THE  ROAD.        209 

was  she  on  the  verge  of  confessing  what  was  passing  within 
her  mind ;  but  fears  of  various  kinds,  —  of  her  father's  anger, 
of  ridicule,  of  the  charge  of  frivolity,  —  all  conspired  to 
keep  her  silent,  and  she  sat  and  listened  to  descriptions  of 
pleasure  and  scenes  wherein  she  had  already  lost  every 
interest,  and  which  somehow  came  associated  with  a  sense 
of  her  own  inferiority. 

Never  did  home  seem  so  regrettable  as  in  that  moment  : 
the  humble  fireside  in  winter ;  the  happy  evenings  with  little 
Hanserl;  the  summer's  day  rambles  in  the  forest;  their 
little  feasts  beside  the  waterfall,  under  the  ivy-clad  walls  of 
Eberstein,  —  all  rose  before  her.  They  were  pleasures  which 
had  no  alloy  in  her  own  humble  lot,  and  why  desert  them? 
She  had  almost  gained  courage  to  say  that  she  would  not, 
when  a  chance  word  caught  her  ear  —  one  word  — how  little 
to  hang  a  destiny  upon  !  It  was  Lady  Hester,  who,  convers- 
ing in  a  half-whisper  with  Mr.  Dalton,  said,  — 

"  She  will  be  perfectly  beautiful  when  dressed  becom- 
ingly." 

Was  this,  then,  all  that  was  needed  to  give  her  the  stamp 
and  semblance  of  the  others  ?  Oh,  if  she  could  believe  it ! 
If  she  could  but  fancy  that,  at  some  future  time,  such 
graceful  elegance  should  be  her  own,  that  gentle  languor, 
that  chastened  quietude  of  Sydney,  or  that  sparkling  light- 
ness of  Lady  Hester  herself! 

"  What  time  de  horses,  saar?  "  said  the  courier,  popping 
his  head  into  the  room. 

"  I  scarcely  know  —  what  do  you  say.  Lady  Hester?  " 

"  I  'm  quite  ready  —  this  instant  if  you  like  —  indeed,  I  'm 
always  the  first,"  said  she,  gayly;  "nobody  travels  with 
less  preparation  than  I  do.  There,  see  all  I  want !  "  and 
she  pointed  to  a  fan,  and  a  book,  and  a  smelling-bottle,  —  as 
if  all  her  worldly  effects  and  requirements  went  no  further, 
and  that  four  great  imperials  and  a  dozen  capacious  boxes 
were  not  packed  with  her  wardrobe.  "I  do  detest  the 
worry  and  fuss  some  people  make  about  a  journey  for  a 
week,  or  even  a  month  beforehand ;  they  unsettle  themselves 
and  every  one  around  them ;  putting  under  lock  and  key 
half  the  things  of  every-day  utility,  and  making  a  kind  of 
'  jail-delivery '  of  all  the  imprisoned  old  cloaks  and  dresses 

VOL.  I.  — 14 


210  THE  DALTONS. 

of  the  toilet.  As  for  me,  I  take  the  road  as  I  'd  go  to  the 
Opera,  or  drive  out  iu  the  Park  —  I  ask  for  my  bonnet, 
that's  all." 

There  was  some  truth  in  this.  Her  Ladyship  did,  in  fact, 
give  herself  not  a  whit  more  thought  or  consideration  for 
preparation  of  any  kind,  than  if  the  excursion  had  been  a 
promenade. 

"It  is  now  two  o'clock,"  said  Sir  Stafford,  "  and  if  we 
mean  to  reach  Offenburg  to-night  we  must  not  lose  more 
time.  Isn't  it  Offenburg  you  advise  as  our  halt,  Mr. 
Jekyl?" 

"  Yes,  Sir  Stafford,"  simpered  out  that  bland  personage. 
"It  is  a  most  comfortable  little  inn,  and  a  very  praise- 
worthy cook." 

*'By  the  bye,  has  any  one  thought  of  ordering  luncheon 
here?"  cried  George. 

Jekyl  gave  a  nod,  to  intimate  that  he  had  taken  that 
precaution. 

"And,  Mr.  Jekyl,"  said  Lady  Hester,  "what  of  those 
bullfinches,  for  I  must  have  them?"^ 

"  They  are  safely  caged  and  packed  in  our  britzska, 
madam.  You  '11  also  find  that  your  sketch-book  and  the 
water-colors  are  available  at  any  moment,  Miss  Onslow," 
said  he,  with  a  respectful  gesture.  She  smiled,  and  bowed 
her  thanks  in  silence. 

"And  de  horses,  saar?"  asked  the  courier  once  more, 
for  during  this  colloquy  he  had  been  standing  in  expectation 
of  his  orders. 

"  Do  tell  him,  Mr.  Jekyl,"  said  Lady  Hester,  with  that 
tone  of  languor  that  bespoke  her  dislike  to  the  trouble  of 
even  a  trifling  degree  of  resolution. 

"  I  think  we  shall  say  in  one  hour,  Gr^goire,"  said  Jekyl, 
mildly.  "  And,  perhaps,  it  would  be  better  that  you  should 
see  — "  What  this  matter  was  that  the  courier  should  be- 
stow his  special  attention  upon  is  not  on  record  in  this 
history,  inasmuch  as  that  when  the  speaker  had  reached 
thus  far,  he  passed  out  of  the  door,  talking  as  he  went,  in  a 
low  and  confidential  voice. 

"Capital  fellow  —  Jekyl!"  exclaimed  George;  "he  for- 
gets nothing." 


PREPARATIONS  FOR  THE   ROAD.  211 

"  He  appears  to  be  a  most  accomplished  traveller,"  said 
Sir  Stafford. 

"  And  such  a  linguist!  "  said  Sydney. 

"  And  so  amusing  !  "  added  my  Lady. 

"  And  such  a  rogue!  "  muttered  Dalton  to  himself,  who, 
although  so  open  to  any  imposition  that  took  the  form  of 
flattery,  could  at  once  detect  the  knavery  that  was  practised 
upon  others,  and  who,  at  a  glance,  read  the  character  of  the 
new  acquaintance. 

"Don't  you  like  the  stir  and  excitement  of  the  road,  my 
dear  child  ?  "  said  Lady  Hester  to  Kate,  who,  with  very  red 
eyes  and  very  pale  cheeks,  stood  in  a  window  to  avoid  being 
obsers'ed.  "  There  is  something  so  adventurous  about  a 
journey  always.  One  may  be  robbed,  you  know,  or  the 
carriage  upset,  as  happened  to  ourselves  t'  other  day ;  or 
mistaken  for  somebody  else,  and  carried  ofif  to  prison.  It 
gives  such  a  flurry  to  the  spirits  to  think  of  these  things,  and 
a  life  of  monotony  is  so  very  detestable." 

Kate  tried  to  smile  an  assent,  and  Lady  Hester  ran  on  in 
the  same  strain,  extolling  the  delights  of  anything  and  every- 
thing that  promised  an  excitement.  "  You  know,  my  deai 
child,  that  this  little  place  has  almost  been  the  death  of  me," 
added  she.  "  I  never  was  so  bored  in  all  my  life;  and  I 
vow  I  shall  detest  a  mill  and  a  pine-forest  to  the  last  day 
I  live.  If  it  had  not  been  for  you  and  your  sweet  sister,  I 
do  not  know  what  we  should  have  done ;  but  it 's  all  over 
now.  The  dreary  interval  is  passed,  and  when  we  turn  the 
foot  of  that  hill  yonder,  we  shall  have  seen  the  last  of  it." 

Kate's  heart  was  almost  bursting  as  she  heard  these 
words.  To  speak  thus  of  the  little  valley  would  have  been 
a  profanation  at  any  time,  but  to  do  so  now,  when  she  was 
about  to  leave  it,  when  she  was  about  to  tear  herself  away 
from  all  the  ties  of  love  and  affection,  seemed  an  actual 
cruelty. 

"  Small  places  are  my  aversion,"  continued  Lady  Hester, 
who,  when  satisfied  with  her  own  talk,  never  cared  much 
what  effect  it  was  producing  upon  others.  "One  grows 
down  insensibly  to  the  measure  of  a  petty  locality,  with  its 
little  interests,  its  little  people,  and  its  little  gossip  —  don't 
you  think  so,  dear?" 


212  THE  DALTONS. 

"  "We  were  so  happy  here ! "  murmured  Kate,  in  a  voice 
that  a  choking  fulness  of  her  throat  almost  stifled. 

"Of  course  you  were,  child, — very  happy;  and  it  was 
very  good  of  you  to  be  so.  Yes,  very  good  and  very  right." 
Here  Lady  Hester  assumed  a  peculiar  tone,  which  she  always 
put  on  whenever  she  fancied  that  she  was  moralizing. 
"Natural  amiability  of  disposition,  and  all  that  sort  of 
thing,  is  very  nice  indeed ;  but  there 's  luncheon,  I  see,  and 
now,  my  dear,  let  us  take  our  places  without  loss  of  time. 
George,  will  you  give  your  arm  to  Miss  Dalton?  Mr. 
Dalton  —  but  where 's  Mr.  Dalton?" 

"Papa  has  taken  him  with  him  to  his  dressing-room," 
answered  Sydney,  ' '  but  begged  you  'd  not  wait ;  they  'U 
be  back  presently." 

"No  lady  does  wait  at  luncheon,"  said  Lady  Hester, 
snappishlv',  while,  drawing  Kate's  arm  within  her  own,  she 
led  her  into  the  adjoining  room. 

The  party  had  scarcely  seated  themselves  at  table  when 
they  were  joined  by  Jekyl.  Indeed,  Lady  Hester  had 
only  time  to  complain  of  his  absence  when  he  appeared ; 
for  it  was  a  trick  of  that  gentleman's  tact  merely  to  make 
himself  sufficiently  regretted  not  to  be  blamed.  And  now 
he  came  to  say  that  everything  was  ready,  —  the  postilions 
in  the  saddle,  the  carriages  drawn  up  before  the  door, 
the  relays  all  been  ordered  along  the  road,  the  supper  be- 
spoken for  the  end  of  the  journey.  These  pleasant  facts 
he  contrived  to  season  with  a  running  fire  of  little  gossip 
and  mimicry,  in  which  the  landlord,  and  Gr^goire,  and 
Mademoiselle  Celestine  were  the  individuals  personated. 

Never  were  Mr.  Jekyl's  peculiar  abilities  more  in  request  ; 
for  the  moment  was  an  awkward  and  embarrassing  one  for 
all,  and  none,  save  himself,  were  able  to  relieve  its  serious- 
ness. Even  Nelly  smiled  at  the  witty  sallies  and  playful  con- 
ceits of  this  clever  talker,  and  felt  almost  grateful  to  him  for 
the  momentary  distraction  he  afforded  her  from  gloomier 
thoughts.  With  such  success  did  he  exert  himself,  that  all 
the  graver  sentiments  of  the  occasion  were  swallowed  up  in 
the  pleasant  current  of  his  small-talk,  and  no  time  given  for 
a  thought  of  that  parting  which  was  but  a  few  minutes 
distant.      Sir  Stafford  and  Mr.   Dalton  were  not  sorry  to 


PREPARATIONS  FOR  THE  ROAD.        213 

discover  the  party  in  this  pleasant  humor,  and  readily 
chimed  in  with  the  gayety  around  them. 

The  bugle  of  the  postilions  at  length  announced  that 
"  time  was  up,"  and  the  half- hour,  which  German  polite- 
ness accords  to  leave-taking,  expired.  A  dead  silence 
succeeded  the  sound,  and,  as  if  moved  by  the  same  in- 
stinctive feeling,  the  two  sisters  arose  and  withdrew  into 
a  window.  Close  locked  in  each  other's  arms,  neither 
could  speak.  Kate's  thick  sobs  came  fast  and  full,  and 
her  heart  beat  against  her  sister's  side  as  though  it  were 
bursting.  As  for  Nelly,  all  that  she  had  meant  to  say,  the 
many  things  she  had  kept  for  the  last  moment,  were  forgot- 
ten, and  she  could  but  press  the  wet  cheek  to  her  own,  and 
murmur  a  tremulous  blessing. 

"  Oh,  if  I  could  but  remain  with  you,  Nelly  dearest," 
sobbed  Kate;  "  I  feel  even  already  my  isolation.  Is  it  too 
late,  sister  dear,  is  it  too  late  to  go  back  ?  " 

"  Not  if  this  be  not  a  sudden  impulse  of  sorrow  for  part- 
ing, Kate ;  not  if  you  think  you  would  be  happier  here." 

"  But  papa !  how  will  he  —  what  will  he  —  " 

She  had  not  time  for  more,  when  her  father  joined  them. 
A  certain  flurry  of  his  manner  showed  that  he  was  excited 
by  talking  and  wine  together.  There  was  that  in  the  expres- 
sion of  his  features,  too,  that  betokened  a  mind  ill  at  ease 
with  itself  —  a  restless  alternating  between  two  courses. 

"  'Tis  you  are  the  lucky  girl,  Kate,"  said  he,  drawing  his 
arm  around  her,  and  pressing  her  to  him.  "This  day's 
good  luck  pays  me  off  for  many  a  hard  blow  of  fortune. 
They  're  kind  people  you  are  going  with,  real  gentry,  and 
our  own  blood  into  the  bargain." 

A  thick  heavy  sob  was  all  the  answer  she  could  make. 

"To  be  sure  you're  sorry;  why  would  n't  you  be  sorry, 
leaving  your  own  home  and  going  away  among  strangers? 
and  't  is  I  am  sorry  to  let  you  go." 

"Are  you  so,  dearest  papa?  Are  you  really  sorry  to 
part  with  me  ?  Would  you  rather  I  'd  stay  behind  with 
you  and  Nelly?"  cried  she,  looking  up  at  him  with  eyes 
swimming  in  tears. 

"Would  I,  is  it?"  said  he,  eagerly,  as  he  kissed  her 
forehead  twice ;  then,  suddenly  checking  himself,  he  said, 


214  THE  DALTONS. 

in  an  altered  voice,  "  but  that  would  be  selfish,  Kate, 
nothing  else  than  downright  selfish.  Ask  Nelly,  there,  if 
that's  my  nature?  Not  that  Nelly  will  ever  give  me  too 
good  a  character !  "  added  he,  bitterly.  But  poor  Ellen 
neither  heard  the  question  nor  the  taunt;  her  mind  was 
travelling  many  a  long  mile  away  in  realms  of  dreary 
speculation. 

"I  'm  sorry  to  interrupt  a  moment  like  this,"  said  Sir 
Stafford,  "but  I  believe  I  must  take  you  away.  Miss  Dal- 
ton;  our  time  is  now  of  the  shortest." 

One  fond  and  long  embrace  the  sisters  took,  and  Kate 
was  led  away  between  Sir  Stafford  and  her  father,  while 
Nelly  went  through  a  round  of  leave-takings  with  the 
others  in  a  state  of  semi-consciousness  that  resembled  a 
dream.  The  courteous  flatteries  of  Lady  Hester  fell  as 
powerless  on  her  ear  as  the  rougher  good  wishes  of  Groun- 
sell.  George  Onslow's  respectful  manner  was  as  unnoticed 
as  the  flippant  smartness  of  Albert  Jekyl's.  Even  Sydney's 
gentle  attempt  at  consolation  was  heard  without  heeding; 
and  when  one  by  one  they  had  gone  and  left  her  alone  in 
that  dreary  room,  she  was  not  more  aware  of  her  solitude 
than  when  they  stood  around  her. 

Couriers  and  waiters  passed  in  and  out  to  see  that  noth- 
ing had  been  forgotten.  Doors  were  slammed  on  every 
side,  loud  voices  were  calling,  all  the  turmoil  of  a  departure 
was  there;  but  she  knew  nothing  of  it.  Even  when  the  loud 
cracking  of  the  postilions'  whips  echoed  in  the  courtyard, 
and  the  quick  clatter  of  horses'  feet  and  heavy  wheels 
resounded  through  the  arched  doorway,  she  was  still  un- 
moved ;  nor  did  she  recover  full  liberty  of  thought  till  her 
father  stood  beside  her,  and  said,  "  Come,  Nelly,  let  us  go 
home." 

Then  she  arose,  and  took  his  arm  without  a  word.  She 
would  have  given  her  life  to  have  been  able  to  speak  even 
a  few  words  of  comfort  to  the  poor  old  man,  whose  cheeks 
were  wet  with  tears,  but  she  could  not  utter  a  syllable. 

"Ay,  indeed,"  muttered  he,  "it  will  be  a  dreary  home 
now." 

Not  another  word  was  spoken  by  either  as  they  trod  their 
way  along  the  silent  streets,  over  which  the  coming  gloom 


PREPAKATIONS  FOR  THE  ROAD.  215 

of  evening  threw  a  mournful  shadow.  They  walked,  with 
bent-down  heads,  as  if  actually  fearing  to  recognize  the 
objects  that  they  had  so  often  looked  upon  with  her,  and, 
slowly  traversing  the  little  Platz,  they  gained  their  own 
door.  There  they  halted,  and,  from  habit,  pulled  the  bell. 
Its  little  tinkle,  heard  in  the  stillness,  seemed  suddenly  to 
recall  them  both  to  thought;  for  Dalton,  with  a  melancholy 
smile,  said,  — 

"  'T  is  old  Andy  is  coming  now!  'T  is  n't  her  foot  I  hear! 
Oh,  Nelly,  Nelly,  how  did  you  ever  persuade  me  to  this! 
Sure,  I  know  I  '11  never  be  happy  again ! " 

Nelly  made  no  answer.  The  injustice  of  the  speech  was 
well  atoned  for  in  her  mind  by  the  thought  that,  in  shifting 
the  blame  from  himself  to  her,  her  father  might  find  some 
sort  of  consolation ;  well  satisfied  to  become  the  subject  of 
his  reproach  if  the  sacrifice  could  alleviate  his  sorrow. 

"Take  that  chair  away;  throw  it  out  of  the  window," 
cried  he,  angrily.  "It  breaks  my  heart  to  look  at  it." 
And  with  this  he  leaned  his  head  upon  the  table,  and  sobbed 
like  a  child. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

A   VERY   SMALL    "INTERIOR." 

In  one  of  the  most  favored  spots  of  that  pleasant  quay 
which  goes  by  the  name  of  the  Lungo  I'Arno,  at  Florence, 
there  stood  a  small,  miserable-looking,  rickety  old  building, 
of  two  stories  high,  wedged  in  between  two  massive  and 
imposing  palaces,  as  though  a  buffer  to  deaden  the  force  of 
collision.  In  all  probability  it  owed  its  origin  to  some 
petty  usurpation,  and  had  gradually  grown  up,  from  the 
unobtrusive  humility  of  a  cobbler's  bulk,  to  the  more  per- 
manent nuisance  of  stone  and  mortar.  The  space  occupied 
was  so  small  as  barely  to  permit  of  a  door  and  a  little  win- 
dow beside  it,  within  which  hung  a  variety  of  bridles, 
halters,  and  such-like  gear,  with  here  and  there  the  brass- 
mounted  harnessing  of  a  Calasina,  or  the  gay  worsted  tassels 
and  fringed  finery  of  a  peasant's  Barroccino.  The  little 
spot  was  so  completely  crammed  with  wares,  that  for  all 
pui^poses  of  traffic  it  was  useless;  hence,  everything  that 
pertained  to  sale  was  carried  on  in  the  street,  thus  contrib- 
uting by  another  ingredient  to  the  annoyance  of  this  mis- 
placed residence.  Threats,  tyranny,  bribery,  seductions  of 
twenty  kinds,  intimidation  in  as  many  shapes,  had  all  failed 
in  inducing  it«  owner  to  remove  to  another  part  of  the  town. 
Gigi  —  every  one  in  Florence  is  known  by  his  Christian 
name,  and  we  never  heard  him  called  by  any  other  — 
resisted  oppressions  as  manfully  as  he  was  proof  against 
softer  influences,  and  held  his  ground,  hammering  away  at 
his  old  "demi-piques,"  burnishing  bits  and  scouring  hous- 
ings, in  utter  indifference  to  the  jarred  nerves  and  chafed 
susceptibilities  of  his  fine  neighbors.  It  was  not  that  the 
man  was  indifferent  to  money.  It  was  not  that  the  place 
was  associated  with  any  family  reminiscences.     It  was  not 


A  VERY  SMALL  "INTERIOR."  217 

from  its  being  very  favorable  to  the  nature  of  his  dealings, 
since  his  chief  customers  were  usually  the  frequenters  of 
the  less  fashionable  localities.  It  was  the  simple  fact  that 
Gigi  was  a  Florentine,  and,  like  a  Florentine,  he  saw  no 
reason  why  he  should  n't  have  the  sun  and  the  Arno  as  well 
as  the  Guiciardoni,  who  lived  at  his  right,  or  the  Rinuncini, 
who  dwelt  on  his  left  hand. 

Small  and  contracted  as  that  miserable  frontage  was, 
the  sun  did  shine  upon  it  just  as  pleasantly  as  on  its  proud 
neighbors,  and  the  bright  Arno  glided  by  with  its  laughing 
ripples;  while,  from  the  little  window  above  stairs,  the 
eye  ranged  over  the  cypress-clad  hill  of  San  Miniato  and 
the  fair  gardens  of  the  Boboli.  On  one  side  lay  the  quaint 
old  structure  of  the  Ponte  Vecchio,  with  its  glittering  stores 
of  jewelry,  and  on  the  other  the  graceful  elliptic  arches 
of  St.  Trinita  spanned  the  stream.  The  quay  before  the 
door  was  the  chosen  rallying-point  of  all  Florence;  the 
promenade  where  lounged  all  its  fashionables  of  an  evening, 
as  they  descended  from  their  carriages  after  the  accustomed 
drive  in  the  Cascini.  The  Guardie  Nobili  passed  daily,  in 
all  their  scarlet  bi-avery,  to  and  from  the  Pitti  Palace ;  the 
Grand  Ducal  equipage  never  took  any  other  road.  A 
continual  flow  of  travellers  to  the  great  hotels  on  the  quay 
contributed  its  share  of  bustle  and  animation  to  the  scene; 
so  that  here  might  be  said  to  meet,  as  in  a  focus,  all  that 
made  up  the  life,  the  stir,  and  the  movement  of  the  capital. 

Full  of  amusement  and  interest  as  that  morning  panorama 
often  is,  our  object  is  less  to  linger  beside  it,  than,  having 
squeezed  our  way  between  the  chaotic  wares  of  Gigi's  shop, 
to  ascend  the  little,  dark,  and  creaking  stairs  which  lead 
to  the  first  story,  and  into  which  we  now  beg  to  introduce 
our  reader.  There  are  but  two  rooms,  each  of  them  of  the 
dimensions  of  closets,  but  furnished  with  a  degree  of  pre- 
tension that  cannot  fail  to  cause  amazement  as  you  enter. 
Silk  draperies,  carved  cabinets,  bronzes,  china,  chairs  of 
ebony,  tables  of  buhl,  a  Persian  rug  on  the  floor,  an  ala- 
baster lamp  suspended  from  the  ceiling,  miniatures  in  hand- 
some frames,  and  armor,  cover  the  walls;  while,  scattered 
about,  are  richly  bound  books,  and  prints,  and  drawings  in 
water-color.     Through  the  half-drawn   curtain  that   covers 


218  THE  DALTONS. 

the  doorway  —  for  there  is  no  door  —  you  can  peep  into  the 
back  room,  where  a  lighter  and  more  modern  taste  prevails; 
the  gold-sprigged  curtains  of  a  French  bed,  and  the  Bohe- 
mian glass  that  glitters  everywhere,  bespeaking  another  era 
of  decorative  luxury. 

It  is  not  with  any  invidious  pleasure  for  depreciation, 
but  purely  in  the  interests  of  truth,  that  we  must  now  tell 
our  reader  that,  of  all  this  seeming  elegance  and  splendor, 
nothing  —  absolutely  nothing  —  is  real.  The  brocaded  silks 
have  been  old  petticoats;  the  ebony  is  lacquer;  the  ivory  is 
bone;  the  statuettes  are  plaster,  glazed  so  as  to  look  like 
marble;  the  armor  is  j^apier  mdche, — even  to  the  owner 
himself,  all  is  imposition,  for  he  is  no  other  than  Albert 
Jekyl. 

Now,  my  dear  reader,  you  and  I  see  these  things  pre- 
cisely in  the  same  light.  The  illusion  of  a  first  glance 
stripped  off,  we  smile  as  we  examine,  one  by  one,  the  ingen- 
ious devices  meant  to  counterfeit  ancient  art  or  modern 
elegance.  It  is  possible,  too,  that  we  derive  as  much 
amusement  from  the  ingenuity  exercised,  as  we  should  have 
had  pleasure  in  contemplating  the  realities  so  typified. 
Still,  there  is  one  individual  to  whom  this  consciousness 
brings  no  alloy  of  enjoyment;  Jekyl  has  persuaded  himself 
to  accept  all  as  fact.  Like  the  Indian,  who  first  carves 
and  then  worships  his  god,  he  has  gone  through  the  old 
process  of  fabrication,  and  now  gazes  on  his  handiwork 
with  the  eyes  of  a  true  believer.  Gracefully  reclined  upon 
an  ottoman,  the  mock  amber  mouthpiece  of  a  gilt  hooka 
between  his  lips,  he  dreams,  with  half-closed  eyes,  of 
Oriental  luxury !  A  Sybarite  in  every  taste,  he  has  invented 
a  little  philosophy  of  his  own.  He  has  seen  enough  of  life 
to  know  that  thousands  might  live  in  enjoyment  out  of  the 
superfluities  of  rich  men,  and  yet  make  them  nothing  the 
poorer.  What  banquet  would  not  admit  of  a  guest  the 
more?  What /e^e  to  which  another  might  not  be  added? 
What  four-in-hand  prances  by  without  some  vacant  seat, 
be  it  even  in  the  rumble?  What  gilded  gondola  has  not  a 
place  to  spare?  To  be  this  "complement"  to  the  world's 
want  is  then  his  mission. 

No  man   invents  a  metier  without  a  strong  element  of 


A  VERY  SMALL  "INTERIOR."  219 

success.  The  very  creative  power  is  an  earnest  of  victory. 
It  is  true  that  there  had  been  great  men  before  Agamemnon. 
So  had  there  been  a  race  of  "diners-out"  before  Jekyl;  but 
he  first  reduced  the  practice  to  system,  showing  that  all  the 
triumphs  of  cookery,  all  the  splendor  of  equipage,  all  the 
blandishments  of  beauty,  all  the  fascinations  of  high  so- 
ciety, may  be  enjoyed  by  one  who  actually  does  not  hold 
a  "share  in  the  company,"  and,  without  the  qualification 
of  scrip,  takes  his  place  among  the  directors. 

Had  he  brought  to  this  new  profession  commonplace  abil- 
ities and  inferior  acquirements,  he  would  have  been  lost 
amid  that  vulgar  herd  of  indistinguishables  which  infest 
every  city,  and  whose  names  are  not  even  "writ  in  water." 
Jekyl,  however,  possessed  many  and  varied  gifts.  He 
might  have  made  a  popular  preacher  in  a  watering-place;  a 
very  successful  doctor  for  nervous  invalids ;  a  clever  prac- 
titioner at  the  bar;  an  admirable  member  of  the  newspaper 
press.  He  might  have  been  very  good  as  an  actor;  he 
would  have  been  glorious  as  an  auctioneer.  With  qualities 
of  this  order,  a  most  plastic  wit,  and  an  india-rubber  con- 
science, what  bound  need  there  be  to  his  success !  Nor  was 
there.  He  was,  in  all  the  society  of  the  capital,  not  alone 
an  admitted  and  accepted,  but  a  welcome  guest.  He  might 
have  failed  to  strike  this  man  as  being  clever,  or  that  as 
being  agreeable.  Some  might  be  disappointed  in  his 
smartness;  some  might  think  his  social  claims  overrated; 
none  were  ever  offended  by  anything  that  fell  from  him. 
His  great  secret  seemed  to  lie  in  the  fact  that,  if  generally 
easy  to  be  found  when  required,  he  was  never  in  the  way 
when  not  wanted.  Had  he  possessed  the  gift  of  invisibility, 
he  could  scarcely  have  been  more  successful  in  this  latter 
good  quality.  He  never  interrupted  a  confidence;  never 
marred  a  tete-a-tete.  A  kind  of  instinct  would  arrest  his 
steps  as  he  approached  a  boudoir  where  his  presence  would 
be  undesirable;  and  he  has  been  known  to  retire  from  a 
door  on  which  he  had  already  placed  his  hand,  with  a 
sudden  burst  of  intelligence  suggesting  "to  come  another 
day." 

These,  however,  seem  mere  negative  qualities;  his  posi- 
tive ones  were,  however,  not  less  remarkable.     The  faculties 


220  THE  DALTONS. 

which  some  men  might  have  devoted  to  abstract  science  or 
metaphysical  inquiry,  he,  with  a  keen  perception  of  his  own 
fitness,  resolved  to  exercise  upon  the  world  around  him. 
His  botany  was  a  human  classification,  all  his  chemistry  an 
analysis  of  men's  motives.  It  is  true,  perhaps,  that  the 
poet's  line  may  have  been  received  by  him  with  a  peculiar 
limitation,  and  that,  if  "the  proper  study  of  mankind  is 
man,"  his  investigations  took  a  shape  scarcely  contem- 
plated by  the  writer.  It  was  not  man  in  his  freedom  of 
thought  and  action,  not  man  in  all  the  consciousness  of 
power,  and  in  the  high  hope  of  a  great  destiny  that  attracted 
him ;  no !  it  was  for  small  humanity  that  he  cared,  —  for 
all  the  struggles  and  wiles  and  plots  and  schemings  of 
this  wicked  world ;  for  man  amid  its  pomps  and  vanities, 
its  balls,  its  festivals,  its  intrigues,  and  its  calamities. 

He  felt,  with  the  great  dramatist,  that  "all  the  world's 
a  stage,"  and,  the  better  to  enjoy  the  performance,  he 
merely  took  a  "walking  character,"  that  gave  him  full 
leisure  to  watch  the  others.  Such  was  our  friend  Albert 
Jekyl,  or,  as  he  was  popularly  called  by  his  acquaintance, 
Le  Due  de  Dine-out,  to  distinguish  him  from  the  Talley- 
rands,  who  are  Dues  de  Dino. 

Let  us  now,  without  further  speculation,  come  back  to 
him,  as  with  his  window  open  to  admit  the  "Arno  sun," 
he  lay  at  full  length  upon  his  ottoman,  conning  over  his 
dinner  list.  He  had  been  for  some  time  absent  from 
Florence,  and  in  the  interval  a  number  of  new  people  had 
arrived,  and  some  of  the  old  had  gone  away.  He  was, 
therefore,  running  over  the  names  of  the  present  and  the 
missing,  with  a  speculative  thought  for  the  future. 

"A  bad  season,  it  would  seem! "  muttered  he,  as  his  eye 
traced  rapidly  the  list  of  English  names,  in  which  none  of 
any  distinction  figured.  "This  comes  of  Carbonari  and 
lUuminati  humbug.  They  frighten  John  Bull,  and  he  will 
not  come  abroad  to  see  a  barricade  under  his  window. 
Great  numbers  have  gone  away,  too,  —  the  Scotts,  the  Car- 
ringdons,  the  Hopleys!  —  three  excellent  houses;  and  those 
dear  Milnwoods,  who,  so  lately  '  reconciled  to  Rome,'  as 
the  phrase  is,  '  took  out  their  piety  '  in  Friday  fish-dinners. 

"The  Russians,  too,  have  left  us;  the  GerobofiFskys  gone 


A  VERY  SMALL  "INTERIOR."  221 

back  to  their  snows  again,  and  expiating  their  '  liberal  ten- 
dencies '  by  a  tour  in  Siberia.  The  Chaptowitsch,  recalled 
in  disgrace  for  asking  one  of  Louis  Philippe's  sons  to  a 
breakfast!  We  have  got  in  exchange  a  few  Carlists,  half 
a  dozen  '  Legitimists,'  with  very  stately  manners  and  small 
fortunes.  But  a  good  house  to  dine  at,  a  good  salon  for  a 
lounge,  a  pleasant  haunt  for  all  seasons  and  at  all  hours, 
what  is  there?  Nothing,  absolutely  nothing.  And  what 
a  city  this  was  once!  —  crammed,  as  it  used  to  be,  with 
dear,  delightful  '  ruined  families; '  that  is,  those  who  left 
ruin  to  their  creditors  at  home,  to  come  out  and  live  glori- 
ously abroad.  And  now  I  look  down  my  list,  and,  except 
my  little  Sunday  dinner  at  '  Marescotte's,'  and  that  half - 
luncheon  thing  I  take  at  the  Villa  Pessarole,  I  really  see 
nothing  for  the  whole  week.  The  Onslows,  alone,  figure 
in  strong  capitals.  Let  me  see,  then,  how  they  must  be 
treated.  I  have  already  housed  them  at  the  Palazzo  Mazza- 
rini,  and,  for  some  days  at  least,  their  time  will  be  filled  up 
with  upholsterers,  decorators,  and  such-like.  Then  the 
campaign  will  open,  and  I  can  but  watch  eventualities,  and 
there  will  be  no  lack  of  these.  The  young  Guardsman 
likes  play.  I  must  see  that  Prince  Carini  does  not  get  hold 
of  him.  Miss  Onslow  has  a  taste  for  Gothic  and  stained 
glass;  that,  nowadays,  often  ends  in  a  love  of  saints' 
shin-bones  and  other  relics.  My  lady  is  disposed  to  be  a 
'  fast  one ; '  and,  in  fact,  except  the  gruff  old  doctor,  who  is 
a  confounded  bore,  the  whole  craft  is  deficient  in  ballast. 
But  I  was  forgetting  '  the  Dalton,'  —  shame  on  me,  for  she 
is  very  pretty,  indeed !  "  He  seemed  to  ruminate  and  reflect 
for  some  minutes,  and  then  said  aloud,  "Yes,  ma  belle 
Catharine,  with  the  aid  of  Albert  Jekyl,  with  his  counsel 
to  guide,  and  his  head  to  direct  j-ou,  there  's  no  saying  what 
your  destiny  might  not  be!  It  would  be,  I  know  well, 
very  hard  to  convince  you  of  the  fact,  and,  possibly,  were 
I  to  try  it,  you  'd  be  silly  enough  to  fancy  me  in  love  with 
you!"  Albert  Jekyl  in  love!  The  idea  was  so  excellent 
that  he  lay  back  and  laughed  heartily  at  it.  "And  yet," 
said  he,  after  a  pause,  "you  '11  see  this  fact  aright  one  of 
these  days.  You  '11  learn  the  immense  benefit  my  knowledge 
would  be  when  joined  to  your  own  beauty.     Ay,  Kate !  but 


222  THE  DALTONS. 

it  will  be  too  late,  —  just  so,  too  late ;  then,  like  every  one 
else,  you  '11  have  played  all  your  trumps  before  you  begin 
to  learn  the  game.  A  girl  who  has  caught  up  evea-y  trick 
of  manner,  every  little  tactic  of  society  within  a  month,  and 
who,  at  this  hour,  would  stand  the  scrutiny  of  the  most  fas- 
tidious eye,  is  a  great  prize  in  the  wheel.  This  aptitude 
might  lead  to  great  things,  though,  in  all  probability,  it 
will  never  conduce,  save  to  very  little  ones!" 

With  this  reflection  Jekyl  arose  to  begin  his  toilet,  an 
occupation  which,  less  from  dandyism  than  pure  self-love, 
he  usually  prolonged  during  the  whole  morning.  It  was  to 
him  a  period  of  self-examination.  He  seemed,  to  use  a 
mercantile  figure,  to  be  taking  stock  of  his  own  capabil- 
ities, and  investigating  his  own  means  of  future  success. 
It  was  an  "open  day,"  —  that  is,  he  knew  not  where  he 
should  dine;  so  that  his  costume,  while  partaking  of  all  the 
characteristics  of  the  morning,  had  yet  combined  certain 
little  decorative  traits  that  would  not  be  unsuitable  if 
pressed  to  accept  an  unpremeditated  hospitality. 

There  were  very  few,  indeed,  with  whom  Jekyl  would  have 
condescended  so  to  dine,  not  only  from  the  want  of  dignity 
incurred,  but  that  on  principle  he  would  have  preferred  the 
humblest  fare  at  home  to  the  vulgarity  of  a  pot-luck  dinner, 
which  invariably,  as  he  said  himself,  deranged  your  diges- 
tion, and  led  to  wrong  intimacies. 

His  dress  being  completed,  he  looked  out  along  the  crowd 
to  see  in  whose  carriage  he  was  to  have  a  seat  to  the  Cas- 
cini.  More  than  one  inviting  gesture  motioned  him  to  a 
place,  as  equipage  after  equipage  passed  on ;  but  although 
some  of  those  who  sought  him  were  high  in  rank,  and  others 
distinguished  for  beauty  and  attraction,  Jekyl  declined  the 
courtesies  with  that  little  wave  of  the  hand  so  significative 
in  all  Italian  intercourse.  Occasionally,  indeed,  a  bland, 
regretful  smile  seemed  to  convey  the  sorrow  the  refusal  cost 
him;  and  once  he  actually  placed  his  hand  over  where  his 
heart  might  be,  as  though  to  express  a  perfect  pang  of 
suffering;    but  still  he  bided  his  time. 

At  last  a  very  dark  visage,  surrounded  by  a  whisker  of 
blackest  hair,  peeped  from  beneath  the  head  of  a  very 
shabby  caleche,  whose  horse  and  coachman  were  all  of  the 


A  VERY  SMALL  "INTERIOR."  223 

"seediest;"  and  Jekyl  cried  out,  "Morlache!"  while  he 
made  a  sign  towards  the  Cascini.  The  other  replied  by 
spreading  out  his  hand  horizontally  from  his  mouth,  and 
blowing  along  the  surface,  —  a  pantomime  meant  to  express 
a  railroad.  Jekyl  immediately  descended  and  took  his 
place  beside  him. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 


A     FAMILY     PICTURE. 


The  fashionable  life  of  a  great  city  has  a  character  of  same- 
ness which  defies  all  attempts  at  portraiture.  Well-bred 
people,  and  their  amusements,  are  all  constructed  so  per- 
fectly alike,  — certain  family  traits  pervading  them  through- 
out, —  that  every  effort  at  individualization  is  certain  to  be 
a  failure.  You  may  change  the  venue,  if  you  will,  from 
London  to  Paris,  to  Vienna,  or  St.  Petersburg,  but  the 
issue  is  always  the  same;  the  very  same  interests  are  at 
work,  and  the  same  passions  exercised,  by  the  self-same 
kind  of  people.  If  such  be  the  rule  among  the  first-rate 
capitals  of  Europe,  it  is  very  far  from  being  the  case  in 
those  smaller  cities  which  belong  to  inferior  States,  and 
which,  from  reasons  of  health,  pleasure,  or  economy,  are  the 
resort  of  strangers  from  different  parts  of  the  world.  In 
these  society  is  less  disciplined,  social  rank  less  defined; 
conflicting  claims  and  rival  nationalities  disturb  the  scene, 
and  there  is,  so  to  say,  a  kind  of  struggle  for  pre-eminence, 
which  in  better  regulated  communities  is  never  witnessed. 
If,  as  is  unquestionably  true,  such  places  rarely  present  the 
attractions  of  good  society,  they  offer  to  the  mere  observer 
infinitely  more  varied  and  amusing  views  of  life  than  he 
would  ever  expect  to  see  elsewhere.  As  in  the  few  days  of 
a  revolution,  when  the  "barricades  are  up,"  and  all  hurry- 
ing to  the  conflict,  more  of  national  character  will  be 
exhibited  than  in  half  a  century  of  tame  obedience  to  the 
law;  so  here  are  displayed,  to  the  sun  and  the  noonday,  all 
those  passions  and  pretensions  which  rarely  see  the  light  in 
other  places. 

The  great  besetting  sin  of  this  social  state  is  the  taste  for 
NOTORIETY.      Everything   must    contribute  to  this.      Not 


A   FAMILY   PICTURE.  225 

alone  wealth,  i^plendor,  rank,  and  genius,  but  vice,  in  all 
Its  shapes  and  forms,  must  be  notorious.  "Better  be 
calumniated  in  all  the  moods  and  tenses  than  untalked  of," 
is  the  grand  axiom.  Do  something  that  can  be  reported  of 
you,  — good,  if  you  will,  bad,  if  you  must;  but  do  it.  If 
you  be  not  rich  enough  to  astonish  by  the  caprices  of  your 
wealth,  do  something  by  your  wits,  or  even  your  whiskers. 
The  color  of  a  man's  gloves  has  sufficed  to  make  his 
fortune. 

Upon  this  strange  ocean,  which,  if  rarely  storm-shaken, 
was  never  perfectly  tranquil,  the  Onslows  were  now 
launched,  as  well  pleased  as  people  usually. are  who,  from 
being  of  third  or  fourth-rate  importance  in  their  own  coun- 
try, suddenly  awake  to  the  fact  that  they  are  celebrities 
abroad. 

The  Mazzarini  Palace  had  long  been  untenanted ;  its  last 
occupant  had  been  one  of  the  Borghese  family,  whose  princely 
fortune  was  still  unable  to  maintain  the  splendor  of  a  resi- 
dence fitted  only  for  royalty.  To  learn,  therefore,  that  a 
rich  "milordo"  had  arrived  there  with  the  intention  of 
passing  his  winter,  was  a  piece  of  news  that  occupied  every 
tongue  in  the  city.  Gossips  were  questioned  about  the 
private  history,  the  peerage  consulted  for  such  facts  as  were 
public.  Sir  Stafford's  wealth  was  actively  discussed,  and 
all  possible  inroads  upon  it  his  son's  extravagance  might 
have  made  debated  and  decided  on.  A  minute  investiga- 
tion into  their  probable  reasons  for  leaving  England  was 
also  instituted,  in  which  conjectures  far  more  ingenious 
than  true  figured  prominently.  What  they  were  like  —  what 
they  said,  did,  and  meant  to  do  —  was  the  sole  table-talk  of 
the  capital. 

"They've  had  their  horses  out  from  England,"  said  one; 
"They  've  taken  the  best  box  at  the  Pergola,"  said  another; 
"They've  engaged  Midchekoff's  cook,"  said  a  third; 
"They  've  been  speaking  to  Gridani  about  his  band," 
chimed  in  a  fourth;  and  so  on.  All  their  proceedings  were 
watched  and  followed  by  that  eager  vulturehood.  which 
hungers  for  ortolans,  and  thirsts  for  iced  champagne. 

Nor  were  the  Onslows  without  offering  food  for  this 
curious   solicitude.     From  the   hour  of   her   arrival.   Lady 

VOL.   I.  — 15 


226  THE   DALTONS. 

Hester  had  been  deeply  engaged,  in  concert  with  her  grand 
vizier,  Albert  Jekyl,  in  preparations  for  the  coming  cam- 
paign. An  army  of  upholsterers,  decorators,  and  such-like, 
beset  the  Palazzo  with  enormous  vans  crammed  full  of 
wares.  Furniture,  that  had  served  royal  guests,  and  was 
even  yet  in  high  preservation,  was  condemned,  to  give  way 
to  newer  and  more  costly  decoration.  Rich  stuffs  and  hang- 
ings that  had  been  the  admiration  of  many  a  visitor,  were 
ruthlessly  pulled  down,  to  be  replaced  by  even  more  gor- 
geous materials;  till  at  last  it  was  whispered  about  that, 
except  some  antique  cabinets,  the  pictures,  and  a  few  tables 
of  malachite  or  marble,  little  or  nothing  remained  of  what 
once  constituted  the  splendor  of  the  place. 

These  were  mere  rumors,  however;  for  as  yet,  none,  save 
Albert  Jekyl  himself,  had  seen  the  interior;  and  from  him, 
unless  disposed  to  accord  it,  all  confidence  was  hopeless. 
Indeed,  his  little  vague  stare  when  questioned;  his  simper- 
ing, "I  shouldn't  wonder,"  "It  is  very  likely,"  or  "Now 
that  you  mention  it,  I  begin  to  think  so  too,"  would  have 
disarmed  the  suspicion  of  all  who  had  not  studied  him 
deeply.  What  the  Onslows  were  going  to  do,  and  when 
they  would  do  it,  were,  then,  the  vexed  questions  of  every 
coterie.  In  a  few  days  more  the  Carnival  would  begin, 
and  yet  no  announcement  of  their  intentions  had  yet  gone 
forth,  no  programme  of  future  festivities  been  issued  to 
the  world.  A  vague  and  terrible  fear  began  to  prevail  that 
it  was  possible  they  meant  all  these  splendid  preparations 
for  themselves  alone.  Such  a  treason  was  incredible  at 
first;  but  as  day  followed  day,  and  no  sign  was  made, 
suspicion  ripened  into  actual  dread;  and  now  the  eager 
expectants  began  to  whisper  among  themselves  dark  reasons 
for  a  conduct  so  strange  and  inexplicable. 

Haggerstone  contributed  his  share  to  these  mysterious 
doubtings,  for,  while  not  confessing  that  his  acquaintance 
with  the  Onslows  was  of  the  very  slightest,  and  dated  but 
from'a  week  before,  he  spoke  of  them  with  all  the  affected 
ease  and  information  of  one  who  had  known  them  for 
years. 

Nor  were  his  comments  of  the  most  flattering  kind,  for 
seeing  how  decidedly  every  effort  he  made  to  renew  acquaint- 


A  FAMILY  PICTURE.  227 

aiice  was  met  by  a  steady  opposition,  he  lost  no  time  in 
assuming  his  stand  as  enemy.  The  mterval  of  doubt  which 
had  occurred  as  to  their  probable  mode  of  life  was  favor- 
able for  this  line  of  action.  None  knew  if  they  were  ever 
to  partake  of  the  splendor  and  magnificence  of  the  Mazza- 
rini ;  none  could  guess  what  chance  they  had  of  the  sump- 
tuous banquets  of  the  rich  man's  table.  It  was  a  lottery, 
in  which,  as  yet,  they  had  not  even  a  ticket ;  and  what  so 
natural  as  to  depreciate  the  scheme ! 

If  the  courts  of  law  and  equity  be  the  recognized  tri- 
bunals by  which  the  rights  of  property  are  decided,  so  there 
exists  in  every  city  certain  not  less  decisive  courts,  which 
pronounce  upon  all  questions  of  social  claims,  and  deliver 
judgments  upon  the  pretensions  of  every  new  arrival 
amongst  them.  High  amid  the  number  of  these  was  a 
certain  family  called  Ricketts,  who  had  been  residents  of 
Florence  for  thirty-odd  years  back.  They  consisted  of 
three  persons,  —  General  Ricketts,  his  wife,  and  a  maiden 
sister  of  the  General.  They  inhabited  a  small  house  in  a 
garden  within  the  boulevard,  dignified  by  the  name  of  the 
"  Villino  Zoe."  It  had  originally  been  the  humble  residence 
of  a  market-gardener,  but,  by  the  aid  of  paint  and  plaster, 
contrived  to  impose  upon  the  world  almost  as  successfully 
as  did  the  fair  owner  herself  by  the  help  of  similar  ad- 
juncts. A  word,  however,  for  the  humanities  before  we 
speak  of  their  abiding-place.  The  "General"  —  Heaven 
alone  knew  when,  where,  or  in  what  service  he  became  so 
—  was  a  small,  delicate  little  man,  with  bland  manners,  a 
weak  voice,  a  weak  stomach,  and  a  weaker  head ;  his  in- 
stincts all  mild,  gentle,  and  inoffensive,  and  his  whole  pur- 
suit in  life  a  passion  for  inventing  fortifications,  and  defend- 
ing passes  and  t^tes-du-pont  by  lines,  circumvallations,  and 
ravelins,  which  cost  reams  of  paper  and  whole  buckets  of 
water-color  to  describe.  The  only  fire  which  burned  within 
his  nature  was  a  little  flickering  flame  of  hope,  that  one 
day  the  world  would  awake  to  the  recognition  of  his  great 
discoveries,  and  his  name  be  associated  with  those  of  Vau- 
ban  and  Carnot.  Sustained  by  this,  he  bore  up  against 
contemporary  neglect  and  actual  indifference ;  he  whispered 
to   himself,   that,  like  Nelson,  he  would  one  day  "  have  a 


228  THE  DALTONS. 

gazette  of  his  own,"  and  in  this  firm  conviction,  he  went  on 
with  rule  and  compass,  measuring  and  daubing  and  drawing 
from  morn  till  night,  happy,  bumble,  and  contented  :  noth- 
ing could  possibly  be  more  inoffensive  than  such  an  exist- 
ence. Even  the  French  —  our  natural  enemies  —  or  the 
Russians  —  our  Palmerstonian  BHes  noires  —  would  have 
forgiven,  had  they  but  seen,  the  devices  of  his  patriotism. 
Never  did  heroic  ardor  burn  in  a  milder  bosom,  for,  though 
his  brain  revelled  in  all  the  horrors  of  siege  and  slaughter, 
he  would  not  have  had  the  heart  to  crush  a  beetle. 

Unlike  him  in  every  respect  was  the  partner  of  his  joys : 
a  more  bustling,  plotting,  scheming  existence  it  was  hard 
to  conceive.  Most  pretenders  are  satisfied  with  aspiring 
to  one  crown;  her  ambitions  were  "  legion."  When  Colum- 
bus received  the  taunts  of  the  courtiers  on  the  ease  of  his 
discovery,  and  merely  replied,  that  the  merit  lay  simply  in 
the  fact  that  he  alone  had  made  it,  he  was  uttering  a  truth 
susceptible  of  very  wide  application.  Nine  tenths  of  the 
inventions  which  promote  the  happiness  or  secure  the  ease 
of  mankind  have  been  not  a  whit  more  diflScult  than  that 
of  balancing  the  egg.  They  only  needed  that  some  one 
should  think  of  them  "  practically."  Thousands  may  have 
done  so  in  moods  of  speculation  or  fancy ;  the  grand  requi- 
site was  a  practical  intelligence.  Such  was  Mrs.  Ricketts's. 
As  she  had  seen  at  Naples  the  lava  used  for  mere  road- 
making,  which  in  other  hands,  and  by  other  treatment, 
might  have  been  fashioned  into  all  the  shapes  and  colors 
of  Bohemian  glass,  so  did  she  |)erceive  that  a  certain  raw 
material  was  equally  misapplied  and  devoted  to  base  uses, 
but  which,  by  the  touch  of  genius,  might  be  made  powerful 
as  the  wand  of  an  enchanter.  This  was  "  Flattery."  Do 
not,  like  the  Spanish  courtiers,  my  dear  reader,  —  do  not 
smile  at  her  discovery,  nor  suppose  that  she  had  been 
merely  exploring  an  old  and  exhausted  mine.  Her  flattery 
was  not,  as  the  world  employs  it,  an  exaggerated  estimate 
of  existing  qualities,  but  a  grand  poetic  and  creative  power, 
that  actually  begot  the  great  sublime  it  praised.  What- 
ever your  walk,  rank,  or  condition  in  life,  she  instantly  laid 
hold  of  it  to  entrap  you.  No  matter  what  your  size,  stat- 
ure, or  sj'rametry,  she  could  costume  you  in  a  minute !     Her 


A  FAMILY  PICTURE.  229 

praises,  like  an  elastic-web  livery,  fitted  all  her  slaves ; 
and  slaves  were  they  of  the  most  abject  slavery,  who  were 
led  by  the  dictation  of  her  .crafty  intelligence ! 

A  word  about  poor  Martha,  and  we  have  done;  nor, 
indeed,  is  there  any  need  we  should  say  more  than  that  she 
was  universally  known  as  "  Poor  Martha "  by  all  their 
acquaintance.  Oh!  what  patience,  submission,  and  long 
suffering  it  takes  before  the  world  will  confer  its  degree  of 
Martyr,  —  before  they  will  condescend  to  visit,  even  with  so 
cheap  a  thing  as  compassion,  the  life  of  an  enduring  self- 
devotion.  Martha  had  had  but  one  idol  all  her  life,  —  her 
brother ;  and  although^  when  he  married  late  in  years,  she 
had  almost  died  broken-hearted  at  the  shock,  she  clung  to 
him  and  his  fortunes,  unable  to  separate  from  one  to  whose 
habits  she  had  been  ministering  for  above  thirty  years.  It 
was  said  that  originally  she  was  a  person  of  good  common 
faculties,  and  a  reasonably  fair  knowledge  of  the  world  ;  but 
to  see  her  at  the  time  of  which  we  now  speak,  not  a  vestige 
remained  of  either,  —  not  a  stone  marked  wliere  the  edifice 
once  stood.  Nor  can  this  b3  matter  of  wonderment.  Who 
could  have  passed  years  amid  all  the  phantasmagoria  of  that 
unreal  existence,  and  either  not  gone  clean  mad,  or  made  a 
weSk  compromise  with  sanity,  by  accepting  everything  as 
real?  Poor  Martha  had  exactly  these  two  alternatives, — 
either  to  "  believe  the  crusts  mutton,"  or  be  eternally  shut 
out  from  all  hope.  Who  can  tell  the  long  and  terrible  strug- 
gle such  a  mind  must  have  endured?  —  what  little  bursts  of 
honest  energy  repelled  by  fear  and  timidity?  —  what  good 
intentions  baffled  by  natural  humility,  and  the  affection  she 
bore  her  brother? 

It  may  have  —  nay,  it  did  —  cost  her  much  to  believe  this 
strange  creed  of  her  sister-in-law ;  but  she  ended  by  doing 
so.  So  implicit  was  her  faith,  that,  like  a  true  devotee,  she 
would  not  trust  the  evidence  of  her  own  senses,  if  opposed 
by  the  articles  of  her  belief.  The  very  pictures  at  whose 
purchase  she  had  been  present,  and  whose  restoration  and 
relacquering  had  been  the  work  of  her  own  hands,  she  was 
willing  to  aver  had  been  the  gifts  of  royal  and  princely  per- 
sonages. The  books  for  which  she  had  herself  written  to 
the  publishers,  she  would  swear  all  tributes  offered  by  the 


230  THE  DALTONS. 

respective  writers  to  the  throne  of  taste  and  erudition. 
Every  object  with  whose  humble  birth  aud  origin  she  was 
familiar,  was  associated  in  her  mind  with  some  curious 
history,  which,  got  off  by  rote,  she  repeated  with  full  credu- 
lity. Like  the  well-known  athlete,  who  lifted  a  bull  because 
he  had  accustomed  himself  to  the  feat  since  the  animal  had 
been  a  calf,  rising  from  small  beginnings,  she  had  so  edu- 
cated her  faculties  that  now  nothing  was  above  her  powers. 
Not  all  the  straits  and  contrivances  by  which  this  motley 
display  was  got  up,  —  not  all  the  previous  schemings  and 
plottings,  —  not  all  the  discussions  as  to  what  King  or  Kaiser 
this  should  be  attributed,  by  what  artist  that  was  panited, 
who  carved  this  cup,  who  enamelled  that  vase,  —  could 
shake  the  firmness  of  her  faith  when  the  matter  was  once 
decided.  She  might  oppose  the  Bill  in  every  stage ;  she 
might  cavil  at  it  in  Committee,  and  divide  on  every  clause ; 
but  when  it  once  became  law,  she  revered  it  as  a  statute  of 
the  land.  All  her  own  doubts  faded  away  on  the  instant ; 
all  her  former  suggestions  vanished  at  once ;  a  new  light 
seemed  to  break  on  her  mind,  and  she  appeared  to  see  with 
the  eyes  of  truth  and  discernment.  We  have  been  led  away 
beyond  our  intention  in  this  sketch,  and  have  no  space  to 
devote  to  that  temple  wherein  the  mysteries  were  celebrated. 
Enough  if  we  say  that  it  was  small  and  ill-arranged,  its  dis- 
comfort increased  by  the  incongruous  collection  of  rare  and 
curious  objects  by  which  it  was  filled.  Stuffed  lions  stood 
in  the  hall ;  mock  men  in  armor  guarded  the  entrance  to  the 
library ;  vast  glass  cases  of  mineralogical  wealth,  botanical 
specimens,  stuffed  birds,  impaled  butterflies,  Indian  weapons, 
Etrurian  cups,  Irish  antiquities,  Chinese  curiosities,  covered 
the  walls  on  every  side.  Not  a  specimen  amongst  them  that 
could  not  trace  its  presentation  to  some  illustrious  donor. 
Miniatures  of  dear,  dear  friends  everywhere ;  and  what  a 
catholic  friendship  was  that  which  included  every  one,  from 
Lord  Byron  to  Chalmers,  and  took  in  the  whole  range  of 
morals,  from  Mrs.  Opie  to  Fanny  Elssler.  Indeed,  although 
the  fair  Zoe  was  a  "rigid  virtue,"  her  love  of  genius,  her 
"  mind-worship,"  as  she  called  it,  often  led  her  into  strange 
intimacies  with  that  intellectual  class  whose  strength  lies  in 
pirouettes,  and  whose  gifts  are  short  petticoats.     In  a  word, 


A  FAMILY  PICTURE.  231 

whatever  was  "notorious"  was  her  natural  prey^  a  great 
painter,  a  great  radical,  a  great  basso,  a  great  traveller ;  any 
one  to  lionize,  anything  to  hang  history  upon ;  to  enlist, 
even  "for  one  night  only,"  in  that  absurd  comedy  which 
was  performed  at  her  house,  and  to  display  among  her 
acquaintances  as  another  in  that  long  catalogue  of  those  who 
came  to  lay  the  tribute  of  their  genius  at  her  feet. 

That  a  large  section  of  society  was  disposed  to  be  rude 
and  ungenerous  enough  to  think  her  a  bore,  is  a  fact  that 
we  are,  however  unwilling,  obliged  to  confess;  but  her 
actual  influence  was  little  affected  by  the  fact.  The  real 
serious  business  of  life  is  often  carried  on  in  localities 
surrounded  by  innumerable  inconveniences.  Men  buy  and 
sell  their  millions,  subsidize  states,  and  raise  loans  in  dens 
dark  and  dismal  enough  to  be  prison-cells.  In  the  same  way, 
the  Villino  was  a  recognized  rendezvous  of  all  who  w  anted  to 
hear  what  was  going  on  in  the  world,  and  who  wished  to  be 
d.  la  hauteur  of  ev^ery  current  scandal  of  the  day.  Not  that 
such  was  ever  the  tone  of  the  conversation  ;  on  the  contrary, 
it  was  "all  taste  and  the  musical  glasses,"  the  "naughty 
talk  "  being  the  mere  asides  of  the  scene. 

Now,  in  that  season  of  foreign  life  which  precedes  the 
Carnival,  and  on  those  nights  when  there  is  no  opera,  any 
one  benevolent  enough  to  open  his  doors  to  receive  is  sure 
of  full  houses;  so  the  Villino  "improved  the  occasion," 
by  announcing  a  series  of  Tuesdays  and  Fridays,  which 
were,  as  the  papers  sa}^  frequented  by  all  the  rank  and 
fashion  of  the  metropolis.  It  is  at  one  of  these  "at 
homes"  that  we  would  now  present  our  reader,  —  not, 
indeed,  during  the  full  moon  of  the  reception,  when  the 
crowded  rooms,  suffocating  with  heat,  were  crammed  with 
visitors,  talking  in  every  tongue  of  Europe,  and  every 
imaginable  dialect  of  each.  The  great  rnelee  tournament 
was  over,  and  a  few  lingered  over  the  now  empty  lists, 
discussing  in  familiar  converse  the  departed  guests  and 
the  events  of  the  evening. 

This  privy  council  consisted  of  the  reader's  old  acquaint- 
ance, Haggerstone,  a  Russo-Polish  Count  Petrolaffski,  a 
dark,  sallow-skinned,  odd-looking  gentleman,  whose  national 
predilections  had  raised  him  to  the  rank  of  an  enemy  to  the 


232  THE   DALTONS. 

Emperor,  but  whose  private  resources,  it  was  rumored,  came 
from  tlie  Imperial  treasury  to  reward  his  services  as  a  spy ; 
a  certain  Mr.  Scroope  Purvis,  the  brother  of  Mrs.  Ricketts, 
completing  the  party.  He  was  a  little,  rosy-cheeked  old 
man,  with  a  limp  and  a  stutter,  perpetually  running  about 
retailing  gossip,  which,  by  some  accident  or  other,  he  inva- 
riably got  all  wrong,  never,  on  even  the  most  trifling  occa- 
sion, being  able  to  record  a  fact  as  it  occurred. 

Such  were  the  individuals  of  a  group  which  sat  around 
the  fire  in  close  and  secret  confab,  Mrs.  Ricketts  herself 
placed  in  the  midst,  her  fair  proportions  gracefully  disposed 
in  a  chair  whose  embroidery  displayed  all  the  quarterings  and 
emblazonment  of  her  family  for  centuries  back.  The  ''  Bill " 
before  the  house  was  the  Onslows,  whose  res  gestce  were  caus- 
ing a  most  intense  interest  everywhere. 

"Have  dey  return  your  call,  madam?  "asked  the  Pole, 
with  an  almost  imperceptible  glance  beneath  his  dark 
brows. 

"Not  yet.  Count;  we  only  left  our  cards  yesterday." 
This,  be  it  said  in  parenthesis,  was  "  inexact,"  —  the  visit 
had  been  made  eight  days  before.  "  Nor  should  we  have 
gone  at  all,  but  Lady  Foxington  begged  and  entreated 
we  would.  'They  will  be  so  utterly  without  guidance 
of  any  kind,'  she  said,  '  you  must  really  take  them  in 
hand.'" 

"  And  you  will  take  dem  in  your  hand  — eh?" 

"That  depends,  my  dear  Count, — that  depends,"  said 
she,  pondering.  "We  must  see  what  line  they  adopt 
here;  rank  and  wealth  have  no  influence  with  us  if  un- 
united with  moral  and  intellectual  excellence." 

"  I  take  it,  then,  your  circle  will  be  more  select  than 
amusing  this  winter,"  said  Haggerstone,  with  one  of  his 
whip-cracking  enunciations. 

"Be  it  so.  Colonel,"  sighed  she,  plaintively.  "Like  a 
lone  beacon  on  a  rock,  with  —  I  forget  the  quotation." 

"With  the  phos-phos-phos-phate  of  lime  upon  it?"  said 
Purvis,  "that  new  discov-co-covery ?" 

"  With  no  such  thing!  A  figure  is,  I  perceive,  a  danger- 
ous mode  of  expression." 

"  Ha !  ha !  ha !  "  cried  he,  with  a  peculiar  cackle,  whose 


A  FAMILY  PICTURE.  233 

hysteric  notes  always  carried  himself  into  the  seventh  heaven 
of  enjoyment,  "you  would  cut  a  pretty  figure  if  you  were 
to  be  made  a  beacon  of,  and  be  burned  like  Moses.  Ha ! 
ha!  ha!" 

The  lady  turned  from  him  in  disdain,  and  addressed  the 
Colonel. 

"  So  you  really  think  that  they  are  embarrassed,  and  that 
is  the  true  reason  of  their  coming  abroad?" 

"I  believe  I  may  say  I  know  it,  ma'am!"  rejoined  he. 
"There  is  a  khid  of  connection  between  our  families, 
although  I  should  be  very  sorry  they  'd  hear  of  it,  —  the 
Badelys  and  the  Harringtons  are  first  cousins." 

"Oh,  to  be  sure!"  broke  in  Purvis.  "Jane  Harrington 
was  father ;  no,  no,  not  father  —  she  was  mo-mo-mother  of 
Tom  Badely ;  no !  that  is  n't  it,  she  was  his  aunt,  or  his 
brother-in-law,  I  forget  which." 

"Pray  be  good  eijough,  sir,  not  to  involve  a  respectable 
family  in  a  breach  of  common  law,"  said  Haggerstone, 
tartly,  "and  leave  the  explanation  to  me." 

"  How  I  do  dislike  dat  English  habit  of  countin'  cousins," 
said  the  Pole;  "j'ou  never  see  tree,  four  English  togeder 
without  a  leetle  tree  of  genealogie  in  de  middle,  and  dey  do 
sit  all  round,  fighting  for  de  fruit." 

"  Financial  reasons,  then,  might  dictate  retirement,"  said 
Mrs.  Ricketts,  coming  back  to  the  original  theme. 

A  very  significant  nod  from  Haggerstone  inferred  that  he 
concurred  in  the  remark. 

"  Four  contested  elections  for  a  county,  ma'am,  a  spend- 
thrift wife,  and  a  gambling  son,  rarely  increase  a  man's 
income,"  said  he,  sententiously. 

"  Do  he  play?  What  for  play  is  he  fond  of?"  asked  the 
Pole,  eagerly. 

"Play,  sir?  There  is  nothing  an  Englishman  will  not 
play  at,  —  from  the  turf,  to  tossing  for  sovereigns." 

"So  Hamlet  say,  in  Shakspeare,  'de  play  is  de  ting,'" 
cried  the  Count,  with  the  air  of  a  man  who  made  a  happy 
quotation. 

"  They  are  going  to  have  plays,"  broke  in  Purvis ; 
"  Jekyl  let  it  out  to-night.  They  're  going  to  get  up  a  Vau- 
vau-vau-vau  —  " 


234  THE  DALTONS. 

^^A'tete  de  veau^  probably,  sir,"  said  Haggerstone ;  "  iu 
which  case,"  coutiuued  he,  in  a  whisper,  "  you  would  be 
invaluable." 

"  No,  it  is  n't  that,"  broke  in  Purvis  ;  "  they  are  to  have 
what  they  call  Pro-verbs." 

"  I  trust  they  have  engaged  your  services  as  Solomon, 
sir,"  said  Haggerstone,  with  that  look  of  satisfaction  which 
always  followed  an  impudent  speech. 

"  1  heard  the  subject  of  one  of  them,"  resumed  the  other, 
who  was  far  too  occupied  with  his  theme  to  bestow  a  thought 
upon  a  sarcasm.  "There's  a  lady  in  love  with  —  with  — 
with  her  Mam-mam-mam  — " 

"  Her  mamma,"  suggested  the  Pole. 

"No,  it  isn't  her  mamma;  it's  her  Mam-ame-ameluke  — 
her  Mameluke  slave ;  and  he,  who  is  a  native  prince,  with  a 
great  many  wives  of  his  own  —  " 

"  Oh,  for  shame,  Scroope,  you  forget  Martha  is  here," 
said  Mrs.  Ricketts,  who  was  always  ready  to  suppress  the 
bore  by  a  call  to  order  on  the  score  of  morals. 

"It  isn't  wrong,  I  assure  you;  just  hear  me  out;  let  me 
only  explain  —  " 

"There,  pray  don't  insist,  I  beg  you,"  said  Mrs.  Ricketts, 
with  a  regal  wave  of  her  hand. 

"Why,  it's  Miss  Dalton  is  to  play  it,  Jekyl  says,"  cried 
Purvis,  in  a  tone  of  most  imploring  cadence. 

"  And  who  may  Miss  Dalton  be?"  asked  Mrs.  Ricketts. 

"She  is  the  niece  —  no,  she's  the  aunt  —  or  rather  her 
father  is  aunt  to  —  to  —  " 

"  He  may  be  an  old  lady,  sir ;  but,  surely  —  " 

"Oh,  I  have  it  now!"  broke  in  Purvis.  "It  was  her 
mother ;  Miss  Da-a-alton's  mother  was  uncle  to  a  Stafford." 

"  Perhaps  I  can  shorten  the  pedigree,"  said  Haggerstone, 
tartly.  "  The  young  lady  is  the  daughter  of  a  man  whom 
this  same  Sir  Stafiford  tricked  out  of  his  fortune ;  they  were 
distant  relatives,  so  he  had  n't  even  the  plea  of  blood-relation- 
ship to  cover  his  iniquity.  It  was,  however,  an  Irish  for- 
tune, and,  like  a  Spanish  chMeau,  its  loss  is  more  a  question 
of  feeling  than  of  fact.  The  lawyers  still  say  that  Dalton's 
right  is  unimpeachable,  and  that  the  Onslows  have  not  even 
the  shadow  of  a  case  for  a  jury." 


A  FAMILY  PICTURE.  235 

"An'  have  de  lady  no  broder  nor  sister?"  asked  the 
Count,  who  had  heard  this  story  with  much  attention. 

"  She  has,  sir,  both  brother  and  sister,  but  both  illegiti- 
mate, so  that  this  girl  is  the  heiress  to  the  estate." 

"And  probably  destined  to  be  the  wife  of  the  young 
Guardsman,"  said  Mrs.  Ricketts. 

"  Guessed  with  your  habitual  perspicuity,  madam,"  said 
Haggerstone,  bowing. 

' '  How  very  shocking !  What  worldliness  one  sees  every- 
where !  "  cried  she,  plaintively. 

"The  world  is  excessively  worldly,  madam,"  rejoined 
Haggerstone;  "but  I  really  believe  that  we  are  not  a  jot 
worse  than  were  the  patriarchs  of  old." 

"Ah,  oui,  les  patriarches !  "  echoed  the  Pole,  laughing, 
and  always  ready  to  seize  upon  an  allusion  that  savored  of 
irreverence. 

"Count! — Colonel  Haggerstone!"  cried  Mrs.  Ricketts, 
in  reproof,  and  with  a  look  to  where  Martha  sat  at  her  em- 
broidery-frame.    "And  this  Miss  Dalton  —  is  she  pretty?" 

"She  is  pretty  at  this  moment,  madam;  but,  with  a 
clever  hairdresser  and  a  good  milliner,  would  be  downright 
beautiful.  Of  course  these  are  adjuncts  she  is  little  likely 
to  find  during  her  sojourn  with  the  Onslows." 

"Poor  thing!  how  glad  one  would  be  to  offer  her  a 
kinder  asylum,"  said  Mrs.  Ricketts,  while  she  threw  her 
eyes  over  the  cracked  china  monsters  and  mock  Vandykes 
around  her;  "  a  home,"  added  she,  "where  intellectuality 
and  refinement  might  compensate  for  the  vulgar  pleasures  of 
mere  wealth !  " 

"She  may  want  such,  one  of  these  days,  yet,  or  I'm 
much  mistaken,"  said  Haggerstone.  "  Onslow  has  got 
himself  very  deep  in  railway  speculations;  he  has  heavy 
liabilities  in  some  Mexican  mining  affairs  too.  They  've 
all  been  living  very  fast ;  and  a  crash  —  a  real  crash  "  — 
this  word  he  gave  with  a  force  of  utterance  that  only 
malignity  could  compass — "is  almost  certain  to  follow! 
What  an  excellent  stable  will  come  to  the  hammer  then ! 
There's  a  '  Bone  setter '  colt  worth  a  thousand  guineas,  with 
his  engagements." 

And  now  there  was  a  little  pause  in  the  dialogue,  while 


236  THE  DALTONS. 

each  followed  out  the  thoughts  of  his  own  mind,  Hagger- 
stone's  w^ere  upon  the  admirable  opportunity  of  picking  up  a 
first-rate  batch  of  horses  for  a  fourth  of  their  value ;  Mrs. 
Ricketts  was  pondering  over  the  good  policy  of  securing 
possession  of  a  rich  heiress  as  a  member  of  her  family,  to 
be  held  in  bondage  as  long  as  possible,  and  eventually  — 
if  it  must  be  —  given  in  marriage  to  some  unprovided-for 
cousin ;  the  Pole's  dreams  were  of  a  rich  wife ;  and  Purvis, 
less  ambitious  than  the  rest,  merely  revelled  in  the  thought 
of  all  the  gossip  this  great  event,  when  it  should  come  off, 
would  afiford  him  ;  the  innumerable  anecdotes  he  would  have 
to  retail  of  the  family  and  their  wastefulness ;  the  tea-parties 
he  should  enliven  by  his  narratives;  the  soirees  he  would 
amuse  with  his  sallies.  Blessed  gift  of  imbecility !  how  in- 
finitely more  pleasurable  to  its  possessor  than  all  the  qualities 
and  attributes  of  genius ! 

"  Dat  is  ver  pretty  indeed,  tres  jolie!"  said  the  Count, 
bestowing  a  look  of  approval  at  the  embroidery- frame, 
whereupon,  for  eight  mortal  months,  poor  Martha  labored 
at  the  emblazonment  of  the  Ricketts'  arms ;  "  de  leetle  dogs 
are  as  de  life." 

"  They  are  tigers,  Monsieur  le  Comte,"  replied  she, 
modestly. 

"  Oh,  pardon  !  dey  are  tigres !  " 

"  Most  puppies  are  somewhat  tigerish  nowadays,"  chimed 
in  Haggerstone,  rising  to  take  his  leave. 

"  You  are  leaving  us  early.  Colonel,"  said  the  old  General, 
as  he  awoke  from  a  long  nap  on  the  little  corner  sofa,  which 
formed  his  resting-place. 

"It  is  past  two,  sir;  and,  even  in  your  society,  one  can- 
not cheat  time."  Then,  having  acquitted  himself  of  his 
debt  of  impertinence,  he  wished  them  good-night.  The 
others,  also,  took  their  leave  and  departed. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

KATE. 

Let  us  now  return  to  Kate  Dalton,  whose  life,  since  we  last 
saw  her,  had  been  one  round  of  brilliant  enjoyment.  To 
the  pleasure  of  the  journey',  with  all  its  varied  objects  of 
interest,  the  picturesque  scenery  of  the  Via  Mala,  the 
desolate  grandeur  of  the  Splugen,  the  calm  and  tranquil 
beauty  of  Como,  succeeded  the  thousand  treasures  of  art 
in  the  great  cities  where  they  halted.  At  first  everj'  image 
and  object  seemed  associated  by  some  invisible  link  with 
thoughts  of  home.  What  would  Nelly  think  or  say  of 
this?  was  the  ever- recurring  question  of  her  mind.  How 
should  she  ever  be  able  to  treasure  up  her  own  memories 
and  tell  of  the  wonderful  things  that  every  moment  met 
her  eyes?  The  quick  succession  of  objects,  all  new  and 
dazzling,  were  but  so  many  wonders  to  bring  back  to  that 
"dear  fireside"  of  home.  The  Onslows  themselves,  who 
saw  everything  without  enthusiasm  of  any  kind,  appeared 
to  take  pleasure  in  the  freshness  of  the  young  girl's  admi- 
ration. It  gave  them,  as  it  were,  a  kind  of  reflected 
pleasure,  while,  amid  galleries  and  collections  of  all  that 
was  rare  and  curious,  nothing  struck  them  as-  half  so 
surprising  as  the  boundless  delight  of  her  unhackneyed 
nature. 

Educated  to  a  certain  .extent  by  watching  the  pursuits  of 
her  sister,  Kate  knew  how  to  observe  with  taste,  and  admire 
with  discrimination.  Beauty  of  high  order  would  seem  fre- 
quently endowed  with  a  power  of  appreciating  the  beauty  of 
art,  —  a  species  of  relation  appearing  almost  to  subsist  be- 
tween the  two. 

Gifted  with  this  instinct,  there  was  an  intensity  in  all  her 
enjoyments,  which  displayed  itself  in  the  animation  of  her 


238  THE  DALTONS. 

manner  and  the  elevated  expression  of  her  features.  The 
coldest  and  most  worldly  natures  are  seldom  able  to  resist 
the  influence  of  this  enthusiasm ;  however  hard  the  metal 
of  their  hearts,  they  must  melt  beneath  this  flame.  Lady 
Hester  Onslow  herself  could  not  remain  insensible  to  the 
pure  sincerity  and  generous  warmth  of  tliis  artless  girl. 
For  a  time  the  combat,  silent,  unseen,  but  eventful,  was 
maintained  between  these  two  opposite  natures,  the  prin- 
ciple of  good  warring  with  the  instincts  of  evil.  The  victory 
might  have  rested  with  the  true  cause  —  there  was  every 
prospect  of  its  doing  so  —  when  Sydney  Onslow,  all  whose 
sympathies  were  with  Kate,  and  whose  alliance  had  every 
charm  of  sisterhood,  was  suddenly  recalled  to  England  by 
tidings  of  her  aunt's  illness,  pjducated  by  her  aunt  Con- 
way, she  had  always  looked  up  to  her  as  a  mother,  nor  did 
the  unhappy  circumstances  of  her  father's  second  marriage 
tend  to  weaken  this  feeling  of  attachment.  The  sad  news 
reached  them  at  Genoa ;  and  Sydney,  accompanied  by  Dr. 
Grounsell,  at  once  set  out  for  London.  If  the  sudden 
separation  of  the  two  girls,  just  at  the  very  moment  of  a 
budding  friendship,  was  sorrowfully  felt  by  both,  to  Lady 
Hester  the  event  was  anything  but  unwelcome. 

She  never  had  liked  Sydney ;  she  now  detested  the  notion 
of  a  step-daughter,  almost  of  her  own  age,  in  the  same 
society  with  herself;  she  dreaded,  besides,  the  influence 
that  she  had  already  acquired  over  Kate,  whose  whole 
heart  and  nature  she  had  resolved  on  monopolizing.  It 
was  not  from  any  feeling  of  attachment  or  affection,  it  was 
the  pure  miser-like  desire  for  possession  that  animated 
her.  The  plan  of  carrying  away  Kate  from  her  friends 
and  home  had  been  her  own;  she^  therefore,  owned  her; 
the  original  title  was  vested  in  her :  the  young  girl's  whole 
future  was  to  be  in  her  hands;  her  "road  in  life"  was  to 
be  at  her  dictation.  To  be  free  of  Sydney  and  the  odious 
doctor  by  the  same  event  was  a  double  happiness,  which,  in 
spite  of  all  the  decorous  restraints  bad  news  impose,  actually 
displayed  itself  in  the  most  palpable  form. 

The  Palazzo  Mazzarini  was  now  to  be  opened  to  the 
world,  with  all  the  splendor  wealth  could  bestow,  untram- 
melled by  any  restriction  the  taste  of  Sydney  or  the  pru- 


KATE.  239 

dence  of  the  doctor  might  impose.  Sir  Staflford,  ever 
ready  to  purchase  quiet  for  himself  at  any  cost  of  money, 
objected  to  nothing.  The  cheapness  of  Italy,  the  expecta- 
tions formed  of  an  Englishman,  were  the  arguments  which 
always  silenced  him  if  he  ventured  on  the  very  mildest 
remonstrance  about  expenditure;  and  Jekyl  was  immedi- 
ately called  into  the  witness-box,  to  show  that  among  the 
economies  of  the  Continent  nothing  was  so  striking  as  the 
facilities  of  entertaining.  George,  as  might  be  supposed, 
had  no  dislike  to  see  their  own  house  the  great  centre  of 
society,  and  himself  the  much  sought-after  and  caressed 
youth  of  the  capital. 

As  for  Kate,  pleasure  came  associated  in  her  mind  with 
all  that  could  elevate  and  exalt  it,  —  refinement  of  manners, 
taste,  luxury,  the  fascinations  of  wit,  the  glitter  of  con- 
versational brilliancy.  She  had  long  known  that  she  was 
handsome,  but  she  had  never  felt  it  till  now;  never  awoke 
to  that  thrilling  emotion  which  whispers  of  power  over 
others,  and  which  elevates  the  possessor  of  a  great  quality 
into  a  species  of  petty  sovereignty  above  their  fellows. 
Her  progress  in  this  conviction  was  a  good  deal  aided  by 
her  maid;  for,  at  Jekyl's  suggestion,  a  certain  Mademoi- 
selle Nina  had  been  attached  to  her  personal  staff. 

It  was  not  easy  at  first  for  Kate  to  believe  in  the  fact  at 
all  that  she  should  have  a  peculiar  attendant;  nor  was  it 
without  much  constraint  'and  confusion  that  she  could 
accept  of  services  from  one  whose  whole  air  and  bearing 
bore  the  stamp  of  breeding  and  tact.  Mademoiselle  Nina 
had  been  the  maid  of  the  Princess  Menzikoff,  the  most 
distinguished  belle  of  Florence,  the  model  of  taste  and 
elegance  in  dress;  but  when  the  Princess  separated  from 
her  husband,  some  unexplained  circumstances  had  involved 
the  name  of  the  fern  me  de  chav\hve^  so  that,  instead  of 
"exchanging  without  a  difference,"  as  a  person  of  her  great 
abilities  might  readily  have  done,  she  had  disappeared  for 
a  while  from  the  scene  and  sphere  in  which  habitually  she 
moved,  and  only  emerged  from  her  seclusion  to  accept  the 
humble  position  of  Kate  Dalton's  maid.  She  was  a  perfect 
type  of  her  own  countrywomen  in  her  own  class  of  life. 
Small  and  neatly  formed,  her  head  was  too  large  for  her 


240  THE  DALTONS. 

size,  and  the  forehead  over-large  for  the  face,  the  brows 
and  temples  being  developed  beyond  all  proportion.  Her 
eyes,  jet  black  and  deeply  set,  were  cold,  stern-looking,  and 
sleepy,  sadness,  or  rather  weariness,  being  the  character- 
istic expression  of  the  face.  Her  mouth,  however,  when 
she  smiled,  relieved  this,  and  gave  a  look  of  softness  to 
her  features.  Her  manner  was  that  of  great  distance  and 
respect, —  the  trained  observance  of  one  who  had  been  always 
held  in  the  firm  hand  of  discipline,  and  never  suffered  to 
assume  the  slightest  approach  to  a  liberty.  She  contrived, 
however,  even  in  her  silence,  or  in  the  very  few  words  she 
ever  uttered,  to  throw  an  air  of  devotion  into  her  service 
that  took  away  fi-om  the  formality  of  a  manner  that  at  first 
seemed  cold  and  even  repulsive.  Kate,  indeed,  in  the 
beginning,  was  thrown  back  by  the  studied  reserve  and 
defei'ential  distance  she  obsers'^ed;  but  as  days  went  over, 
and  she  grew  more  accustomed  to  the  girl's  manner,  she 
began  to  feel  pleased  with  the  placid  and  unchanging 
demeanor  that  seemed  to  bespeak  a  mind  admirably  trained 
and  regulated  to  its  own  round  of  duties. 

While  Kate  sat  at  a  writing-table,  adding  a  few  lines  to 
that  letter  which,  began  more  than  a  week  ago,  was  still  far 
from  being  completed,  Nina,  whose  place  was  beside  the 
window,  worked  away  with  bent-down  head,  not  seeming  to 
have  a  thought  save  for  the  occupation  before  her.  Not  so 
Kate;  fancies  came  and  went  at  every  instant,  breaking  in 
upon  the  tenor  of  her  thoughts,  or  wending  far  away  on 
errands  of  speculation.  Now  she  would  turn  her  eye  from 
the  page  to  gaze  in  wondering  delight  at  the  tasteful  decora- 
tions of  her  little  chamber,  —  a  perfect  gem  of  elegance  in 
all  its  details;  then  she  would  start  up  to  step  out  upon 
the  terrace,  where  even  in  winter  the  orange-trees  were 
standing,  shedding  their  sweet  odor  at  every  breeze  from 
the  Arno.  With  what  rapturous  delight  she  would  follow 
the  windings  of  that  bright  river,  till  it  was  lost  in  the  dark 
woods  of  the  Cascini!  How  the  sounds  of  passing  equi- 
pages, the  glitter  and  display  of  the  moving  throng,  stirred 
her  heart;  and  then,  as  she  turned  back  within  the  room, 
with  what  a  thrill  of  ecstasy  her  eyes  rested  on  the  splendid 
ball-dress  which  Nina  had  just  laid  upon  the  sofa !     With  a 


KATE. 


241 


trembling  hand  she  touched  the  delicate  tissue  of  Brussels 
lace,  and  placed  it  over  her  arm  in  a  graceful  fold,  her 
cheek  flushing  and  her  chest  heaving  in  consciousness  of 
heightening  beauty. 

Nina's  head  was  never  raised,  her  nimble  fingers  never 


ceased  to  ply;  but  beneath  her  dark  brows  her  darker  eyes 
shot  forth  a  glance  of  deep  and  subtle  meaning,  as  she 
watched  the  young  girl's  gesture. 

"Nina,"  cried  she,  at  last,  "it  is  much  too  handsome  for 
me ;  although  I  love  to  look  at  it,  I  actually  fear  to  wear  it. 
You  know  I  never  have  worn  anything  like  this  before." 

"Mademoiselle  is  too  diffident  and  too  unjust  to  her  own 

VOL.    I.  — 16 


242  THE  DALTONS. 

charms;  beautiful  as  is  the  robe,  it  only  suits  the  elegance 
of  its  wearer." 

"One  ought  to  be  so  graceful  in  every  gesture,  so  perfect 
in  every  movement  beneath  folds  like  these,"  cried  Kate, 
still  gazing  at  the  fine  tracery. 

''  Mademoiselle  is  grace  itself ! "  said  she,  in  a  low,  soft 
voice,  so  quiet  in  its  utterance  that  it  sounded  like  a  reflec- 
tion uttered  unconsciously. 

"Oh,  Nina,  if  1  were  so!  If  I  only  could  feel  that  my 
every  look  and  movement  were  not  recalling  the  peasant 
girl ;  for,  after  all,  I  have  been  little  better,  —  our  good 
blood  could  not  protect  us  from  being  poor,  and  poverty 
means  so  much  that  lowers!" 

Nina  sighed,  but  so  softly  as  to  be  inaudible;  and  Kate 
went  on : — 

"My  sister  Nelly  never  thought  so;  she  always  felt 
differently.  Oh,  Nina,  how  you  would  love  her  if  you  saw 
her,  and  how  you  would  admire  her  beautiful  hair,  and  those 
deep  blue  eyes,  so  soft,  so  calm,  and  yet  so  meaning." 

Nina  looked  up,  and  seemed  to  give  a  glance  that  implied 
assent. 

"Nelly  would  be  so  happy  here,  wandering  through  these 
galleries,  and  sitting  for  hours  long  in  those  beautiful 
churches,  surrounded  with  all  that  can  elevate  feeling  or 
warm  imagination ;  she,  too,  would  know  how  to  profit  by 
these  treasures  of  art.  The  frivolous  enjoyments  that 
please  me  would  be  beneath  her.  Perhaps  she  would  teach 
me  better  things;  perhaps  I  might  turn  from  mere  sensual 
pleasure  to  higher  and  purer  sources  of  happiness." 

"Will  Mademoiselle  permit  me  to  try  this  wreath?"  said 
Nina,  advancing  with  a  garland  of  white  roses,  which  she 
gracefully  placed  around  Kate's  head. 

A  half  crj'  of  delight  burst  from  Kate  as  she  saw  the 
effect  in  the  glass. 

"  Beautiful,  indeed !  "  said  Nina,  as  though  in  concurrence 
with  an  unspoken  emotion. 

"But,  Nina,  I  scarcely  like  this  —  it  seems  as  though  —  I 
cannot  tell  what  I  wish  —  as  though  I  would  desire  notice 
—  I,  that  am  nothing  —  that  ought  to  pass  unobserved." 

"You,   Mademoiselle,"  cried  Nina, — and  for  the    first 


KATE.  248 

time  a  slight  warmth  coloring  the  tone  of  her  manner,  — 
"you,  Mademoiselle, — the  belle,  the  beauty,  the  acknowl- 
edged beauty  of  Florence!  " 

"Nina!  Nina!  "  cried  Kate  rebukingly. 

"I  hope  Mademoiselle  will  forgive  me.  I  would  not  for 
the  world  fail  in  my  respect,"  said  Nina,  with  deep  humil- 
ity; "but  I  was  only  repeating  what  others  spoke." 

"I  am  not  angry,  Nina,  — at  least,  not  with  you,"  said 
Kate,  hurriedly.  "With  myself,  indeed,  I  'm  scarcely  quite 
pleased.     But  who  could  have  said  such  a  silly  thing?" 

"Every  one.  Mademoiselle, — every  one,  as  they  were 
standing  beneath  the  terrace  t'  other  evening.  I  overheard 
Count  Labinski  say  it  to  Captain  Onslow;  and  then  my 
Lady  took  it  up,  and  said,  '  You  are  quite  right,  gentlemen ; 
there  is  nothing  that  approaches  her  in  beauty. '  " 

"Nina!  dear  Nina!  "  said  Kate,  covering  her  flushed 
face  with  both  hands. 

"The  Count  de  Melzi  was  more  enthusiastic  than  even 
the  rest.  He  vowed  that  he  had  grown  out  of  temper  with 
his  Rafl'aelles  since  he  saw  you." 

A  hearty  burst  of  laughter  from  Kate  told  that  this  flat- 
tery, at  least,  had  gone  too  far.  And  now  she  resumed  her 
seat  at  the  writing-table.  It  was  of  the  Splugen  Pass  and 
Como  she  had  been  writing;  of  the  first  burst  of  Italy  upon 
the  senses,  as,  crossing  the  High  Alps,  the  land  of  the  ter- 
raced vine  lay  stretched  beneath.  She  tried  to  fall  back 
upon  the  memory  of  that  glorious  scene  as  it  broke  upon 
her;  but  it  was  in  vain.  Other  and  far  different  thoughts 
had  gained  the  mastery.  It  was  no  longer  the  calm  lake, 
on  whose  mirrored  surface  snow-peaks  and  glaciers  were 
reflected ;  it  was  not  of  those  crags,  over  which  the  wild-fig 
and  the  olive,  the  oleander  and  the  mimosa,  are  spreading, 
she  could  think.  Other  images  crowded  to  her  brain; 
troops  of  admirers  were  before  her  fancy ;  the  hum  of  adula- 
tion filled  her  ears;  splendid  salons^  resounding  with  deli- 
cious music,  and  ablaze  with  a  thousand  wax-lights,  rose 
before  her  imagination,  and  her  heart  swelled  with  conscious 
triumph.  The  transition  was  most  abrupt,  then,  from  a 
description  of  scenery  and  natural  objects  to  a  narrative 
of  the  actual  life  of  Florence:  — 


244  THE  DALTONS. 

"Up  to  this,  Nelly,  we  have  seen  no  one,  except  Mr. 
Jekyl,  whom  you  will  remember  as  having  met  at  Baden. 
He  dines  here  several  days  every  week,  and  is  most  amusing 
with  his  funny  anecdotes  and  imitations,  for  he  knows 
everybody,  and  is  a  wonderful  mimic.  You  'd  swear  Dr. 
Grounsell  was  in  the  next  room  if  you  heard  Mr.  Jekyl' s 
imitation.  There  has  been  some  difficulty  about  an  opera- 
box,  for  Mr.  Jekyl,  who  manages  everybody,  will  insist 
upon  having  Prince  Midchekoff's,  which  is  better  than  the 
royal  box,  and  has  not  succeeded.  For  this  reason  we 
have  not  yet  been  to  the  Opera ;  and,  as  the  Palace  has  been 
undergoing  a  total  change  of  decoration  and  furniture, 
there  has  been  no  reception  here  as  yet;  but  on  Tuesday 
we  are  to  give  our  first  ball.  All  that  I  could  tell  you  of 
splendor,  my  dearest  Nelly,  would  be  nothing  to  the  reality 
of  what  I  see  here.  Such  magnificence  in  every  detail; 
such  troops  of  servants,  all  so  respectful  and  obliging,  and 
some  dressed  in  liveries  that  resemble  handsome  uniforms ! 
Such  gold  and  silver  plate!  such  delicious  flowers  every- 
where —  on  the  staircase,  in  the  drawing-room,  —  here, 
actually,  beside  me  as  I  write!  And,  oh,  Nelly,  if  you 
could  see  my  dress !  Lace,  with  bouquets  of  red  camellia, 
and  looped  up  with  strings  of  small  pearls.  Think  of  me, 
of  poor  Kate  Dal  ton,  wearing  such  splendor!  And,  strange 
enough,  too,  I  do  not  feel  awkward  in  it.  My  hair,  that 
you  used  to  think  I  dressed  so  well  myself,  has  been  pro- 
nounced a  perfect  horror;  and  although  I  own  it  did  shock 
me  at  first  to  hear  it,  I  now  see  that  they  were  perfectly 
right.  Instead  of  bands,  I  wear  ringlets  down  to  my  very 
shoulders;  and  Nina  tells  me  there  never  was  such  an 
improvement,  as  the  character  of  my  features  requires 
softening.  Such  quantities  of  dress  as  I  have  got,  too! 
for  there  is  endless  toilette  here;  and  although  I  am  now 
growing  accustomed  to  it,  at  first  it  worried  me  dreadfully, 
and  left  me  no  time  to  read.  And,  a  propos  of  reading, 
Lady  Hester  has  given  me  such  a  strange  book,  — 
'  Mathilde,'  it  is  called;  very  clever,  deeply  interesting, 
but  not  the  kind  of  reading  you  would  like;  at  least, 
neither  the  scenes  nor  the  characters  such  as  you  would  care 
for.     Of  course  I  take  it  to  be  a  good  picture  of  life  in 


KATE.  245 

another  sphere  from  what  I  have  seen  myself;  and  if  it  be, 
I  must  say  there  is  more  vice  in  high  society  than  I  be- 
lieved. One  trait  of  manners,  however,  I  cannot  help 
admiring,  —  the  extreme  care  that  every  one  takes  never  to 
give  even  the  slightest  offence;  not  only  that  the  wrong 
thing  is  never  said,  but  never  even  suggested.  Such  an 
excessive  deference  to  others'  feelings  bespeaks  great 
refinement,  if  not  a  higher  and  better  quality.  Lady 
Hester  is  delightful  in  this  respect.  1  cannot  tell  you  how 
the  charm  of  her  manner  grows  into  a  fascination.  Captain 
Onslow  I  see  little  of,  but  he  is  always  good-humored  and 
gay;  and  as  for  Sir  Stafford,  he  is  like  a  father  in  the  kind- 
liness and  affection  of  his  cordiality.  Sydney  1  miss 
greatly ;  she  was  nearly  of  my  own  age,  and  although  so  much 
superior  to  me  in  every  way,  so  companionable  and  sister- 
like. We  are  to  write  to  each  other  if  she  does  not  return 
soon.  I  intended  to  have  said  so  much  about  the  galleries, 
but  Mr.  Jekyl  does  quiz  so  dreadfully  about  artistic 
enthusiasm,  I  am  actually  ashamed  to  say  a  word;  besides, 
to  me,  Nelly,  beautiful  pictures  impart  pleasure  less  from 
intrinsic  merit  than  from  the  choice  of  subject  and  the  train 
of  thoughts  they  originate ;  and  for  this  reason  I  prefer  Sal- 
vator  Rosa  to  all  other  painters.  The  romantic  character  of 
his  scenery,  the  kind  of  story  that  seems  to  surround  his 
characters,  the  solemn  tranquillity  of  his  moonlights,  the 
mellow  splendor  of  his  sunsets,  actually  heighten  one's 
enjoyment  of  the  realities  in  nature.  I  am  ashamed  to  own 
that  Rafifaelle  is  less  my  favorite  than  Titian,  whose  por- 
traits appear  to  reveal  the  whole  character  and  life  of  the 
individual  represented.  In  Velasq'uez  there  is  another  fea- 
ture— "  Here  came  an  interruption,  for  Nina  came  with 
gloves  to  choose,  and  now  arose  the  difficult  decision 
between  a  fringe  of  silver  filigree  and  a  deep  fall  of 
Valenciennes  lace,  —  a  question  on  both  sides  of  which 
Mademoiselle  Nina  had  much  to  say.  In  all  these  little 
discussions,  the  mock  importance  lent  to  mere  trifles  at 
first  amused  Kate,  and  even  provoked  her  laughter;  but, 
by  degrees,  she  learned  not  only  to  listen  to  them  with 
attention,  but  even  to  take  her  share  in  the  consultation. 
Nina's  great  art  lay  in  her  capacity  for  adapting  a  costume 
to   the   peculiar   style   and   character  of   the  wearer;  and, 


246  THE   DALTONS. 

however  exaggerated  were  some  of  her  notions  on  this  sub- 
ject, there  was  always  a  sufficiency  of  shrewd  sense  and 
good  taste  in  her  remarks  to  overbear  any  absurdity  in  her 
theory.  Kate  Dalton,  whose  whole  nature  had  been  sim- 
plicity and  frankness  itself,  was  gradually  brought  to 
assume  a  character  with  every  change  of  toilette;  for  if  she 
came  down  to  breakfast  in  a  simple  robe  of  muslin,  she 
changed  it  for  a  costume  de  jjaysanne  to  walk  in  the  garden, 
and  this  again  for  a  species  of  hunting-dress  to  ride  in  the 
Cascini,  —  to  appear  afterwards  at  dinner  in  some  new  type 
of  a  past  age;  an  endless  variety  of  these  devices  at  last 
engaging  attention,  and  occupying  time,  to  the  utter  exclu- 
sion of  topics  more  important  and  interesting. 

The  letter  was  now  to  be  resumed;  but  the  clew  was 
lost,  and  her  mind  was  only  fettered  with  topics  of  dress 
and  toilette.  She  walked  out  upon  the  terrace  to  recover 
her  composure;  but  beneath  the  window  was  rolling  on  that 
endless  tide  of  people  and  carriages  that  swells  up  the  great 
flood  of  a  capital  city.  She  turned  her  steps  to  another 
side,  and  there,  in  the  pleasure-ground,  was  George  Onslow, 
with  a  great  horse-sheet  round  him,  accustoming  a  newly 
purchased  Arabian  to  the  flapping  of  a  riding-skirt.  It 
was  a  present  Sir  Stafford  had  made  her  the  day  before. 
Everything  she  saw,  everything  she  heard,  recalled  but  one 
image, — herself!  The  intoxication  of  this  thought  was 
intense.  Life  assumed  features  of  delight  and  pleasure  she 
had  never  conceived  possible  before.  There  was  an  inter- 
est imparted  to  everything,  since  in  everything  she  had  her 
share.  Oh!  most  insidious  of  all  poisons  is  that  of  ego- 
tism, which  lulls  the  conscience  by  the  soft  flattery  we 
whisper  to  ourselves,  making  us  to  believe  that  we  are  such 
as  the  world  affects  to  think  us.  How  ready  are  we  to  take 
credit  for  gifts  that  have  been  merely  lent  us  by  a  kind  of 
courtesy,  and  of  which  we  must  make  restitution,  when 
called  upon,  with  what  appetite  we  may. 

For  the  time,  indeed,  the  ecstasy  of  this  delusion  is 
boundless.  Who  has  not,  at  some  one  moment  or  other  of 
his  life,  experienced  the  entrancing  delight  of  thinking 
that  the  world  is  full  of  his  friends  and  admirers,  that  good 
wishes  follow  him  as  he  goes,  and  kind  welcomes  await  his 
coming?     Much  of  our  character  for  good  or  evil,  of  our 


KATR  247 

subsequent  utility  in  life,  or  our  utter  helplessness,  will 
depend  upon  how  we  stand  the  season  of  trial.  Kate  Dal- 
ton  possessed  much  to  encourage  this  credulity;  she  was 
not  only  eminently  handsome,  but  she  had  that  species  of 
fascination  in  her  air  which  a  clever  French  writer  defines 
as  the  feminine  essence,  '"''plus  femme  que  les  uutres 
femmes."  If  a  very  critical  eye  might  have  detected  in 
her  manner  and  address  certain  little  awkwardnesses,  a 
less  exacting  judgment  would  have  probably  been  struck 
with  them  as  attractions,  recalling  the  fact  of  her  youth, 
her  simplicity,  and  the  freshness  of  her  nature.  Above  all 
other  charms,  however,  was  the  radiant  happiness  that 
beamed  out  in  every  word  and  look  and  gesture;  such  a 
thorough  sense  of  enjoyment,  so  intense  a  pleasure  in  life, 
is  among  the  very  rarest  of  all  gifts. 

There  was  enough  of  singularity,  of  the  adventurous,  in 
the  nature  of  her  position,  to  excel  all  the  romance  of  her 
nature ;  there  was  more  than  enough  of  real  splendor  around 
her  to  give  an  air  of  fact  and  truth  to  the  highest  flights 
of  her  imagination.  Had  she  been  the  sole  daughter  of 
the  house  and  name,  flatteries  and  caresses  could  not  have 
been  lavished  on  her  more  profusely;  her  will  consulted, 
her  wishes  inquired,  her  taste  evoked  on  every  occasion. 
And  yet,  with  all  these  seductions  about  her,  she  was  not 
yet  spoiled  —  not  yet!  Home  and  its  dear  associations 
were  ever  present  to  her  mind ;  her  humble  fortune,  and  that 
simple  life  she  used  to  lead,  enforcing  lessons  of  humility 
not  yet  distasteful.  She  could  still  recur  to  the  memory  of 
the  little  window  that  looked  over  the  "Murg,"  and  think 
the  scenery  beautiful.  Her  dear,  dear  papa  was  still  all  she 
had  ever  thought  him.  Nelly  was  yet  the  sweet-tempered, 
gentle,  gifted  creature  she  worshipped  as  a  sister;  even 
Hanserl  was  the  kind,  quaint  emblem  of  his  own  dreamy 
"Vaterland."  As  yet  no  conflict  had  arisen  between  the 
past  and  the  present,  —  between  the  i-emembrance  of  narrow 
fortune  and  all  its  crippling  exigencies,  and  the  enjoyment 
of  wealth  that  seems  to  expand  the  generous  feelings  of  the 
heart.  The  lustre  of  her  present  existence  threw,  as  yet, 
no  sickly  light  over  the  bygone;  would  it  might  have  been 
always  so! 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

A  SMALL  SUPPER    PARTY. 

The  great  ball  at  the  Mazzarini  Palace  "came  off"  just  as 
other  great  balls  have  done,  and  will  continue  to  do,  doubt- 
less, for  ages  hence.  There  was  the  usual,  perhaps  a  little 
more  than  the  usual,  splendor  of  dress  and  diamonds ;  the 
same  glare  and  crash  and  glitter  and  crowd  and  heat; 
the  same  buoyant  light-heartedness  among  the  young;  the 
same  corroding  ennui  of  the  old ;  taste  in  dress  was  criti- 
cised, looks  were  scanned,  flirtatious  detected,  quarrels 
discovered,  fans  were  mislaid,  hearts  were  lost,  flounces 
were  torn,  and  feelings  hurt.  There  was  the  ordinary 
measure  of  what  people  call  enjoyment,  mixed  up  with  the 
ordinary  proportion  of  envy,  shyness,  pretension,  sarcasm, 
coldness,  and  malice.  It  was  a  grand  tournament  of  human 
passions  in  white  satin  and  jewels;  and  if  the  wounds 
exchanged  were  not  as  rudely  administered,  they  were  to 
the  full  as  dangerous  as  in  the  real  lists  of  combat.  Yet, 
in  this  mortal  conflict,  all  seemed  happy.  There  was  an 
air  of  voluptuous  abandonment  over  everything;  and  what- 
ever cares  they  might  have  carried  within,  as  far  as  appear- 
ance went,  the  world  went  well  and  pleasantly  with  them. 
The  ball  was,  however,  a  splendid  one;  there  was  every- 
thing that  could  make  it  such.  The  salons  were  magnificent 
in  decoration;  the  lighting  a  perfect  blaze.  There  was 
beauty  in  abundance,  diamonds  in  masses,  and  a  Royal 
Highness  from  the  Court, —  an  insignificant  little  man,  it  is 
true,  with  a  star  and  a  stutter,  who  stared  at  every  one,  and 
spoke  to  nobody.  Still  he  was  the  centre  of  a  glittering 
group  of  handsome  aides-de-camp,  who  displayed  their 
fascinations  in  every  gesture  and  look. 

Apart  from  the  great  flood-tide  of  pleasure,  down  which 
so  many  float  buoyantly,  there  is  ever  on  these  occasions  a 


A  SMALL   SUPPER  PARTY.  249 

deeper  current  that  flows  beneath,  of  human  wile  and  cun- 
ning and  strategy,  just  as,  in  many  a  German  fairy  tale, 
some  curious  and  recondite  philosophy  lies  hid  beneath  the 
little  incidents  related  to  amuse  childhood.  It  would  lead 
us  too  far  from  the  path  of  our  story  were  we  to  seek  for  this 
"tiny  thread  amid  the  woof;"  enough  for  our  present  pur- 
pose if  we  slightly  advert  to  it,  by  asking  our  reader  to 
accompany  us  to  the  small  chamber  which  called  Albert 
Jekyl  master,  and  where  now,  at  midnight,  a  little  table  of 
three  covers  was  laid  for  supper.  Three  flasks  of  cham- 
pagne stood  in  a  little  ice-pail  in  one  corner,  and  on  a  dumb- 
waiter was  arranged  a  dessert,  which,  for  the  season,  dis- 
played every  charm  of  rarity.  A  large  bouquet  of 
moss-roses  and  camellias  ornamented  the  centre  of  the 
board,  and  shed  a  pleasant  odor  through  the  room.  The 
servant,  whose  dress  and  look  bespoke  him  a  waiter  from  a 
restaurant  in  the  neighborhood,  had  just  completed  all  the 
arrangements  of  the  table,  placing  chairs  around  it,  and 
heaped  fresh  wood  upon  the  hearth,  when  a  carriage  drew  up 
at  the  door.  The  merry  sound  of  voices  and  the  step  of 
feet  were  heard  on  the  stairs,  and  the  next  moment  a  lady 
entered,  whose  dress  of  black  lace,  adorned  with  bouquets 
of  blue  flowers,  admirably  set  off  a  figure  and  complexion 
of  Spanish  mould  and  character.  To  this,  a  black  lace  veil 
fastened  to  the  hair  behind,  and  worn  across  the  shoulders, 
contributed.  There  was  a  lightness  and  intrepidity  in  her 
step,  as  she  entered  the  room,  that  suited  the  dark,  flashing, 
steady  glance  of  her  full  black  eyes.  It  would  have,  indeed, 
been  difficult  to  trace  in  that  almost  insolent  air  of  con- 
scious beauty  the  calm,  subdued,  and  almost  sorrow-struck 
girl  whom  we  have  seen  as  Nina  in  a  former  chapter;  but, 
however  dissimilar  in  appearance,  they  were  the  same  one 
individual;  and  the  humble  femme  de  chavihre  of  Kate  Dal- 
ton  was  the  celebrated  ballet-dancer  of  the  great  theatre  of 
Barcelona. 

The  figure  which  followed  was  a  strange  contrast  to  that 
light  and  elegant  form.  He  was  an  old,  short  man,  of 
excessive  corpulence  in  body,  and  whose  face  was  bloated 
and  purple  by  intemperance.  He  was  dressed  in  the  habit 
of  a  priest,  and  was  in  reality  a  canon  of  the  Dome  Cathe- 


250  THE  DALTONS. 

dral.  His  unwieldy  gait,  bis  short  and  labored  respiration, 
increased  almost  to  suffocation  by  the  ascent  of  the  stairs 
and  his  cumbrous  dress,  seemed  doubly  absurd  beside  the 
flippant  lightness  of  the  "Ballarina."  Jekyl  came  last, 
mimicking  the  old  canon  behind  his  back,  and  putting  the 
waiter's  gravity  to  a  severe  test  by  the  bloated  expansion 
of  his  cheek  and  the  fin-like  motion  of  his  hands  as  he 
went. 

"Ecco  me!  "  cried  he  out,  with  a  deep  grunt,  as  he  sank 
into  a  chair  and  wiped  the  big  drops  from  his  forehead  with 
the  skirt  of  his  gown. 

"You  tripped  up  the  stairs  like  a  gazelle,  padre,"  said 
the  girl,  as  she  arranged  her  hair  before  the  glass,  and  dis- 
posed the  folds  of  her  veil  with  all  the  tact  of  coquetry. 

A  thick  snort,  like  the  ejaculation  a  hippopotamus  might 
have  uttered,  was  the  only  reply,  and  Jekyl,  having  given 
a  glance  over  the  table  to  see  all  was  in  order,  made  a  sign 
for  Nina  to  be  seated. 

"Accursed  be  the  stairs  and  he  that  made  them!  "  mut- 
tered the  padre.  "I  feel  as  if  my  limbs  had  been  torn  on 
the  rack.  I  have  been  three  times  up  the  steps  of  the  high 
altar  already  to-day,  and  am  tired  as  a  dog." 

"Here  is  your  favorite  soup,  padre,"  said  Jekyl,  as  he 
moved  the  ladle  through  a  smoking  compound,  whence  a 
rich  odor  of  tomato  and  garlic  ascended.  "  This  will  make 
you  young  again." 

"  And  who  said  I  would  wish  to  be  young  again  ?  "  cried 
the  priest,  angrily.  "I  have  experience  of  what  youth 
means  every  day  in  the  confessional,  and  I  promise  you 
age  has  the  best  of  it." 

"  Such  a  ripe  and  ruddy  age  as  yours,  padre !  "  said  the 
girl,  with  affected  simplicity. 

"Just  so,  minx,"  rejoined  he;  "such  ripeness  as  portends 
falling  from  the  tree!  Better  even  that  than  to  be  worm- 
eaten  on  the  stalk;  ay,  or  a  wasp's  nest  within,  girl,  — you 
understand  me." 

"You  will  never  be  good  friends  for  half  an  hour  to- 
gether," said  Jekyl,  as  he  filled  their  glasses  with  cham- 
pagne, and  then  touching  his  own  to  each,  drank  off  a 
bumper. 


'ly^Jyu^' 


A  SMALL  SUPPER  PARTV  251 

"These  are  from  Savoy,  these  truflBes,  and  have  no 
flavor,"  said  the  padre,  pushing  away  his  plate.  "Let  me 
taste  that  lobster,  for  this  is  a  half- fast  to-day." 

"They  are  like  the  priests,"  said  Nina,  laughing;  "all 
black  without  and  rotten  within !  " 

"  The  ball  went  off  admirably  last  night,"  interposed 
Jekyl,  to  stop  what  he  foresaw  might  prove  a  sharp  alter- 
cation. 

"  Yes,"  said  Nina,  languidly.  "  The  dresses  were* fresher 
than  the  wearers.  It  was  the  first  time  for  much  of  the 
satin,  —  the  same  could  not  be  said  for  many  of  the  com- 
pany." 

"The  Balderoni  looked  well,"  said  Jekyl. 

"Too  fat,  caro  mio,  —  too  fat!"   replied  Nina. 

"  And  she  has  eight  penances  in  the  week,"  grunted  out 
the  canon. 

"  There 's  nothing  like  wickedness  for  embonpoint,  padre," 
said  Nina,  laughing. 

"  Angels  always  are  represented  as  chubby  girls,"  said 
the  priest,  whose  temper  seemed  to  improve  as  he  ate 
on. 

"  Midchekoff,  I  thought,  was  out  of  temper  all  the  even- 
ing," resumed  Jekyl;  "he  went  about  with  his  glass  in 
his  eye,  seeking  for  flaws  in  the  lapis  lazuli,  or  retouches 
in  the  pictures ;  and  seemed  terribly  provoked  at  the  good- 
ness of  the  supper." 

"I  forgive  him  all,  for  not  dancing  with  'my  Lady,'" 
said  Nina.  "  She  kept  herself  disengaged  for  the  prince 
for  half  the  night,  and  the  only  reward  was  his  Russian 
compliment  of,  '  What  a  bore  is  a  ball  when  one  is  past 
the  age  of  dancing ! ' " 

"Did  the  Noncio  eat  much?"  asked  the  padre,  who 
seemed  at  once  curious  and  envious  about  the  dignitary. 

"He  played  whist  all  night,"  said  Jekyl,  "and  never 
changed  his  partner !  " 

"The  old  Marchesa  Guidotti?" 

"The  same.  You  know  of  that,  then,  padre?"  asked 
Jekyl. 

A  grunt  and  a  nod  were  all  the  response. 

"  What  a  curious  chapter  on  '  La  vie  privee'  of  Florence 


252  THE  DALTONS. 

your  revelations  might  be,  padre ! "  said  Jekyl,  as  if  reflect- 
ingly.  "  VVliat  a  deal  of  iniquity,  great  and  small,  comes 
to  your  ears  every  season !  " 

"  What  a  vast  amount  of  it  has  its  origin  in  that  little 
scheming  brain  of  thine,  Signor  Jekyli,  and  in  the  fertile 
wits  of  your  fair  neighbor.  The  unhappy  marriages  thou 
hast  made ;  the  promising  unions  thou  hast  broken ;  the 
doubts  thou  hast  scattered  here,  the  dark  suspicions  there ; 
the  rightful  distrust  thou  hast  lulled,  the  false  confidences 
encouraged,  —  youth,  youth,  thou  hast  a  terrible  score  to 
answer  for !  " 

"  AVhen  I  think  of  the  long  catalogue  of  villanj^  you  have 
been  listening  to,  padre,  not  only  without  an  effort,  but  a 
wish  to  check ;  when  every  sin  recorded  has  figured  in 
your  ledger,  with  its  little  price  annexed ;  when  you  have 
looked  out  upon  the  stormy  sea  of  society,  as  a  wrecker 
ranges  his  eye  over  an  iron-bound  coast  in  a  gale,  and 
thinks  of  the  '  waifs '  that  soon  will  be  his  own ;  when,  as 
I  have  myself  seen  you,  you  have  looked  indulgently  down 
on  petty  transgressions,  that  must  one  day  become  big  sins, 
and,  like  a  skilful  angler,  throw  the  little  fish  back  into  the 
stream,  in  the  confidence  that  when  full-grown  3'ou  can 
take  them,  —  when  you  have  done  all  these  things  and  a 
thousand  more,  padre,  I  cannot  help  muttering  to  myself, 
Age,  age,  what  a  terrible  score  thou  hast  to  answer  for !  " 

"I  must  say,"  interposed  Nina,  "you  are  both  very  bad 
company,  and  that  nothing  can  be  in  worse  taste  than  this 
interchange  of  compliments.  You  are  both  i*ight  to  amuse 
yourselves  in  this  world  as  your  faculties  best  point  out, 
but  each  radically  wrong  in  attributing  motives  to  the  other. 
What,  in  all  that  is  wonderful,  have  we  to  do  with  motives? 
I'm  sure  /  have  no  grudges  to  cherish,  no  debts  of  dis- 
like to  pay  off,  anywhere.  Any  diablerie  I  take  part  in, 
is  for  pure  mischief  sake.  I  do  think  it  rather  a  hard 
case,  that,  with  somewhat  better  features,  and  I  know  a 
far  shrewder  wit  than  many  others,  I  should  perform  sec- 
ond and  third  rate  parts  in  this  great  comedy  of  life,  while 
many  without  higher  qualifications  are  '  cast  for  the  best 
characters.'  This  little  score  I  do  try  and  exact,  not  from 
individuals,  but  the  world  at  large.     Mischief  with  me  is 


A  SMALL  SUPPER  PARTY.  253 

the  child's  pleasure  in  deranging  the  chessmen  when  the 
players  are  most  intent  on  the  game." 

"  Now,  as  to  these  Onslows,  —  for  we  must  be  practical, 
padre  mio,"  said  Jekyl,  "  let  us  see  what  is  to  be  done 
with  them.  As  regards  matrimony,  the  real  prize  has  left 
for  England,  —  this  Dalton  girl  may  or  may  not  be  a  '  hit ;  ' 
some  aver  that  she  is  heiress  to  a  large  estate,  of  which  the 
Onslows  have  obtained  possession,  and  that  they  destine 
her  for  the  young  Guardsman.  This  must  be  inquired  into. 
My  Lady  has  '  excellent  dispositions,'  and  may  have  become 
anything  or  everything." 

"  Let  her  come  to  '  the  Church,'  then,"  growled  out  the 
canon. 

"Gently,  padre,  gently,"  said  Jekyl,  "you  are  really 
too  covetous,  and  would  drag  the  river  always  from  your  own 
net.  We  have  been  generous,  hugely  generous,  to  you  for 
the  last  three  seasons,  and  have  made  all  your  converts  the 
pets  of  society,  no  matter  how  small  and  insignificant  their 
pretensions.  The  vulgar  have  been  adopted  in  the  best 
circles,  the  ugly  dubbed  beautiful,  the  most  tiresome  of  old 
maids  have  been  reissued  from  the  mint  as  new  coinage. 
We  have  petted,  flattered,  and  fawned  upon  those  '  interest- 
ing Christians,'  as  the  '  Tablet'  would  call  them,  till  the  girls 
began  to  feel  that  there  were  no  partners  for  a  polka  outside 
the  Church  of  Rome,  and  that  all  the  '  indulgences '  of  pleas- 
ure, like  those  of  religion,  came  from  the  Pope.  We  cannot 
give  you  the  Onslows,  or,  at  least,  not  yet.  We  have  yet  to 
marry  the  daughter,  provide  for  the  friend,  squeeze  the 
son." 

"Profligate  young  villain! — Reach  me  the  champagne, 
Nina ;  and,  Nina,  tell  your  young  mistress  that  it  is  scarcely 
respectful  to  come  on  foot  to  the  mid-day  mass ;  that  the 
clergy  of  the  town  like  to  see  the  equipages  of  the  rich 
before  the  doors  of  the  cathedral,  as  a  suitable  homage  to 
the  Church.  The  Onslows  have  carriages  in  abundance, 
and  their  liveries  are  gorgeous  and  splendid !  " 

"  It  was  her  own  choice,"  said  Nina;  "she  is  a  singular 
girl  for  one  that  never  before  knew  luxury  of  any  kind." 

"I  hate  these  simple  tastes,"  growled  out  the  padre; 
"they  bespeak  that  obstinacy  which  people  call  a  'calm 


254  THE   DALTONS. 

temperament.'  Her  own  dress,  too,  has  no  indication  of 
her  rank,  Nina." 

"  That  shall  be  eared  for,  padre." 

"  Why  shouldn't  that  young  soldier  come  along  with  her? 
Tell  him  that  our  choir  is  magnificent ;  whisper  him  that  the 
beautiful  Marchesa  di  Guardoni  sits  on  the  very  bench  beside 
Miss  Dal  ton." 

Nina  nodded  an  assent. 

"The  young  girl  herself  is  lax  enough  about  her  duties, 
Nina;  she  has  not  been  even  once  to  confession," 

"That  comes  of  these  English!"  cried  Nina;  "they 
make  our  service  a  constant  jest.  There  is  always  some 
vulgar  quizzing  about  saint-worship,  or  relic  reverence,  or 
the  secrets  of  the  confessional,  going  on  amongst  them." 

"  Does  she  permit  this?  "  asked  the  priest,  eagerly. 

"  She  blushes  sometimes,  occasionally  she  smiles  with  a 
good-humor  meant  to  deprecate  these  attacks,  and  now 
and  then,  when  the  sallies  have  been  pushed  too  far,  I 
have  seen  her  in  tears  some  hours  after." 

"  Oh,  if  these  heretics  would  but  abstain  from  ridicule  !  " 
cried  the  canon.  "The  least  lettered  amongst  them  can 
scoff  and  gibe  and  rail.  They  have  their  stock  sub- 
jects of  sarcasm,  too,  handed  down  from  father  to  son,  — 
poor,  witless  little  blasphemies,' — thefts  from  Voltaire,  who 
laughed  at  themselves,  —  and  much  mischief  do  they  work ! 
Let  them  begin  to  read,  however,  —  let  them  commence  to 
'  inquire,'  as  the  phrase  has  it,  and  the  game  is  our  own." 

"  I  think,  padre,"  said  Jekyl,  "  that  more  of  your  English 
converts  are  made  upon  principles  of  pure  economy  — 
Popery,  like  truffles,  is  so  cheap  abroad !  " 

"Away  with  you!  away  with  you!"  cried  the  padre, 
rebukingly.  "  They  come  to  us  as  the  children  seek  their 
mother's  breast.     Hand  me  the  maccaroni." 

"Padre  mio,"  broke  in  Jek3'l,  '.'I  wish  you  would  be 
Catholic  enough  to  be  less  Popish.  We  have  other  plots 
in  hand  here,  besides  increasing  the  funds  of  the  '  Holy 
Carmelites ; '  and  while  we  are  disputing  about  the  spoil, 
the  game  may  betake  themselves  to  other  hunting-grounds. 
These  Onslows  must  not  be  suffered  to  go  hence." 

"  Albert  is  right,"  interposed  Nina.     "When  the  'Mid- 


A  SMALL  SUPPER  PARTY.  255 

chekoflf'  condescends  to  think  himself  in  love  with  the 
Dalton  girl,  when  the  Guardsman  has  lost  some  thousands 
more  than  he  can  pay,  when  my  Lady  has  offended  one  half 
of  Florence  and  bullied  the  other,  then  the  city  will  have 
taken  a  hold  upon  their  hearts,  and  you  may  begin  your  cru- 
sade when  you  please.  Indeed,  I  am  not  sure,  if  the  season 
be  a  dull  one,  I  would  not  listen  to  you  myself." 

'^  As  you  listened  once  before  to  the  Abbe  D'Esmonde," 
said  the  canon,  maliciously. 

The  girl's  cheek  became  deep  red,  and  even  over  neck  and 
shoulders  the  scarlet  flush  spread,  while  her  eyes  flashed  a 
look  of  fiery  passion. 

"  Do  you  dare  —  are  you  insolent  enough  to  —  " 

Her  indignation  had  carried  her  thus  far,  when,  by  a 
sudden  change  of  temper,  she  stopped,  and  clasping  her 
hands  over  her  face,  burst  into  tears. 

Jekyl  motioned  the  priest  to  be  silent,  while,  gently  leading 
the  other  into  the  adjoining  room,  he  drew  the  curtain,  and 
left  her  alone. 

"  How  could  you  say  that?  "  said  he,  —  "  you,  padre,  who 
know  that  this  is  more  than  jest?  " 

"  Spare  not  the  sinner,  neither  let  the  stripes  be  light,  — 
'  Non  sit  levis  flagella,'  says  Origen." 

"Are  the  ortolans  good,  padre?"  asked  Jekyl,  while 
his  ej^e  glittered  with  an  intense  appreciation  of  the  old 
canon's  hypocrisy. 

"  They,  are  delicious !  succulent  and  tender,"  said  the 
priest,  wiping  his  lips.  "Francesco  does  them  to  perfec- 
tion." 

"You  at  least  believe  in  a  cook,"  said  Jekyl,  but  in  so 
low  a  voice  as  to  escape  the  other's  notice. 

"  She  is  sobbing  still,"  said  the  canon,  in  a  whisper,  and 
with  a  gesture  towards  the  curtained  doorway.  "  I  like  to 
hear  them  gulping  down  their  sighs.  It  is  like  the  glug-glug 
of  a  rich  flask  of  '  Lagrime.' " 

"  But  don't  you  pity  them,  padre?  "  asked  Jekyl,  in  mock 
earnestness. 

"Never!  never!  First  of  all,  they  do  not  suffer  in  all 
these  outbursts.  It  is  but  decanting  their  feelings  into 
another  vessel,  and  they  love  it  themselves !     I  have  had 


256  THE  DALTONS. 

them  for  hours  together  thus  in  the  confessioual,  and  they 
go  away  after,  so  relieved  in  mind  and  so  light  of  heart, 
there 's  no  believing  it." 

"  But  Nina,"  said  Jekyl,  seriously,  "  is  not  one  of  these."' 

"She  is  a  woman,"  rejoined  the  padre,  "and  it  is  only 
a  priest  can  read  them." 

"  You  see  human  nature  as  the  physician  does,  padre, 
always  in  some  aspect  of  suffering.  Of  its  moods  of  mirth 
and  levity  you  know  less  than  we  do,  who  pass  more  butter- 
fly lives !  " 

"  True  in  one  sense,  boy ;  ours  are  the  stony  paths,  —  ours 
are  the  weary  roads  in  life !     I  like  that  Burgundy." 

"  It 's  very  pleasant,  padre.  It  is  part  of  a  case  I  ordered 
for  the  Onslows,  but  their  butler  shook  the  bottle  when 
bringing  it  to  table,  and  they  begged  me  to  get  rid  of  it." 

"  These  wines  are  not  suited  to  Ital}'  generally,"  said  the 
canon;  "but  Florence  has  the  merit  of  possessing  all 
climates  within  the  bounds  of  a  single  day,  and  even  Cham- 
bertin  is  scarcely  generous  enough  when  the  Tramontana  is 
blowing !  " 

* '  Well,  have  you  become  better  mannered  ?  May  I  venture 
to  come  in?  "  cried  Nina,  appearing  at  the  doorway. 

"  '  Venga  pure  !  Venga  pure  ! '  "  growled  out  the  canon. 
"  I  forgive  thee  everything.  Sit  down  beside  me,  and  let  us 
pledge  a  friendship  forever." 

"  There,  then,  let  this  be  a  peace-offering,"  said  she,  tak- 
ing the  wreath  of  flowers  from  her  own  head  and  placing  it 
on  the  brows  of  the  padre.  "  You  are  now  like  the  old 
Bacchus  in  the  Boboli." 

"And  thou  like  — " 

"  Like  what?     Speak  it  out!  "  cried  she,  angrily. 

"Come,  come,  do,  I  beseech  you,  be  good  friends,"  in- 
terposed Jekyl.  "We  have  met  for  other  objects  than  to 
exchange  reproaches." 

"  These  are  but  the  '  irae  amantium.'  boy,"  said  the  priest; 
"  the  girl  loves  me  with  her  whole  heart." 

"How  you  read  my  most  secret  thoughts!"  said  she, 
with  a  coquettish  affectation  of  sincerity. 

"Lectiones  pravissimae  would  they  be!"  muttered  he, 
between  his  teeth. 


A  SMALL  SUPPER  PARTY.  267 

"What  is  that?  What  is  he  mumbling  there,  Albert?" 
cried  she,  hastily. 

"  It  is  a  benediction,  Nina,"  replied  Jekyl ;  "  did  you  not 
hear  the  Latin  ?  " 

Peace  was  at  last  restored,  and  what  between  the  adroit 
devices  of  Jekyl  and  the  goodness  of  his  champagne,  a 
feeling  of  pleasant  sociality  now  succeeded  to  all  the 
bickering  in  which  the  festivity  was  prolonged  to  a  late 
hour.  The  graver  business  which  brought  them  together 
—  the  Ouslows  and  their  affairs — being  discussed,  they 
gave  way  to  all  the  seductions  of  their  exalted  fancies. 
Jekyl,  taking  up  his  guitar,  warbled  out  a  French  love 
song,  in  a  little  treble  a  bullfinch  might  have  envied ;  Nina, 
with  the  aid  of  the  padre's  beads  for  castanets,  stepped 
the  measure  of  a  bolero ;  while  the  old  priest  himself  broke 
out  into  a  long  chant,  in  which  Ovid,  Petrarch,  Anacreon, 
and  his  breviary  alternately  figured,  and  under  the  influence 
of  which  he  fell  fast  asleep  at  last,  totally  unconscious  of 
the  corked  moustaches  and  eyebrows  with  which  Nina 
ornamented  his  reverend  countenance. 

The  sound  of  wheels  in  the  silent  street  at  last  admon- 
ished them  of  the  hour,  and  opening  the  window,  Jekyl  saw 
a  brougham  belonging  to  Sir  Stafford  just  drawing  up  at 
the  door. 

"  Franqois  is  punctual,"  said  Nina,  looking  at  her  watch; 
"  I  told  him  five  o'clock." 

"Had  we  not  better  set  him  down  first?"  said  Jekyl, 
with  a  gesture  toward  the  priest ;  "he  does  not  live  far 
away." 

"With  all  my  heart,"  replied  she;  "but  you're  not 
going  to  wash  his  face?" 

"  Of  course  I  am,  Nina.  The  jest  might  cost  us  far  more 
than  it  was  worth."  And  so  saying,  Jekyl  proceeded  to 
arrange  the  disordered  dress  and  dishevelled  hair  of  the 
padre,  during  the  performance  of  which  the  old  priest  re- 
covered sufficient  consciousness  to  permit  himself  to  be  led 
downstairs  and  deposited  in  the  carriage. 

An  hour  later  and  all  was  still !  Jekyl  slumbering  peace- 
fully on  his  little  French  bed,  over  which  the  rose-colored 
mosquito  curtains  threw  a  softened  half-sunset  hue ;  a  gentle 

VOL.  I  — 17 


258  THE  DALTONS. 

smile  parted  his  lips,  as  in  his  dreams  —  the  dreams  of  a 
happy  and  contented  nature  —  he  wove  pleasant  fancies 
and  devised  many  a  future  scheme. 

In  his  own  dreary  little  den,  behind  the  "  Duomo,"  the 
padre  also  slept  heavily,  not  a  thought,  not  a  single  passing 
idea  breaking  the  stagnant  surface  of  his  deep  lethargy. 

Nina,  however,  was  wakeful,  and  had  no  mind  for  repose. 
Her  brilliant  costume  carefully  laid  aside,  she  was  arranging 
her  dark  hair  into  its  habitually  modest  braid ;  her  very 
features  composing  themselves,  as  she  did  so,  into  their 
wonted  aspect  of  gentleness  and  submission. 

All  the  change  of  dress  being  little  in  comparison  with 
the  complete  alteration  now  observable  in  her  whole  air 
and  demeanor,  she  seemed  a  totally  different  being.  And 
she  was  so,  too;  for  while  hypocrites  to  the  world,  we 
completely  forget  that  we  share  in  the  deception  ourselves. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

A   MIDNIGHT    RECEPTION. 

It  was  past  midnight,  the  Opera  was  just  over,  and  the  few 
privileged  guests  who  were  permitted  to  pay  their  visits  to 
Lady  Hester  Onslow  were  assembled  in  the  little  drawing- 
room  and  boudoir  sacred  to  these  exclusive  receptions. 
Nothing  could  be  in  stronger  contrast  than  the  gorgeous 
splendor  of  the  apartment  and  the  half-dressed,  careless, 
lounging  ease  of  the  men  as  they  stretched  themselves  on 
the  ottomans,  lounged  on  the  sofas,  or  puffed  their  cigars, 
alike  indifferent  to  the  place  and  the  presence  of  two  ladies 
who,  dressed  in  the  very  perfection  of  "  toilette,"  did  the 
honors  of  the  reception. 

Lady  Hester,  who  wore  a  small  embroidered  velvet  cap, 
coquettishly  set  on  one  side  of  the  head,  and  a  species  of 
velvet  jacket,  such  as  is  common  in  Greece,  lay  upon  a 
sofa  beneath  a  canopy  of  pink  silk  covered  with  lace ;  a 
most  splendidly  ornamented  hooka,  the  emerald  mouth- 
piece of  which  she  held  in  her  hand,  stood  on  a  little 
cushion  beside  her ;  while  grouped  around  in  every  attitude 
that  taste  and  caprice  suggested  —  on  chairs,  on  cushions, 
squabs,  "  Prie-Dieu^""  and  other  drawing-room  devices  of 
a  like  nature  —  were  some  half-dozen  men,  whose  air  and 
bearing  pronounced  them  long  habituated  to  all  the  usages 
of  society.  One  stamp  of  feature  and  style  pervaded  all ; 
pale,  dark-eyed,  black-bearded,  and  weary-looking,  they 
seemed  as  though  they  were  tired  of  a  life  of  dissipation, 
and  yet  utterly  incapable  of  engaging  in  any  other. 

All  born  to  high  rank,  some  to  large  fortune,  they  found 
that  no  other  career  was  open  to  them  except  vice  in  one 
shape  or  other.  The  policy  of  their  rulers  had  excluded 
them  from  every  road  of   honorable  ambition ;    neither   as 


260  THE  DALTONS. 

statesmen  nor  soldiers  could  they  hope  to  win  fame  qt  glory. 
Their  habits  of  life  and  the  tone  of  society  gave  no  impulse 
to  the  cultivation  of  science  or  literature.  The  topics  dis- 
cussed in  their  circle  never  by  chance  adverted  to  a  book ; 
and  there  they  were,  with  heads  whose  development  indicated 
all  that  was  intellectual,  with  brows  and  foreheads  that  be- 
tokened every  gift  of  mental  excellence,  wearing  away  life  in 
the  dullest  imaginable  routine  of  dissipation,  their  minds 
neglected,  their  hearts  corrupted,  enervated  in  body,  and 
deprived  of  all  energy  of  character;  they  wore,  even  in 
youth,  the  exhausted  look  of  age,  and  bore  in  every  linea- 
ment of  their  features  the  type  of  lassitude  and  discontent. 

In  the  adjoining  room  sat  Kate  Dalton  at  a  tea-table. 
She  was  costumed  —  for  we  cannot  use  any  milder  word  — 
in  a  species  of  "  moyen-age"  dress,  whose  length  of  stom- 
acher and  deep-hanging  sleeves  recalled  the  portraits  of 
Titian's  time ;  a  small  cap  covered  the  back  of  her  head, 
through  an  aperture  in  which  the  hair  appeared,  its  rich 
auburn  masses  fastened  by  a  short  stiletto  of  gold,  whose 
hilt  and  handle  were  studded  with  precious  stones ;  a  mas- 
sive gold  chain,  with  a  heavy  cross  of  the  same  metal,  was 
the  only  ornament  she  wore.  Widely  different  as  was  the 
dress  from  that  humble  guise  in  which  the  reader  first  knew 
her,  the  internal  change  was  even  greater  still ;  no  longer 
the  bashful,  blushing  girl,  beaming  with  all  the  delight  of  a 
happy  nature,  credulous,  light-hearted,  and  buoyant,  she  was 
now  composed  in  feature,  calm,  and  gentle-mannered ;  the 
placid  smile  that  moved  her  lips,  the  graceful  motion  of  her 
head,  her  slightest  gestures,  her  least  words,  all  displaying  a 
polished  ease  and  elegance  which  made  even  her  beauty  and 
attraction  secondary  to  the  fascination  of  her  manner.  It  is 
true  the  generous  frankness  of  her  beaming  eyes  was  gone ; 
she  no  longer  met  you  with  a  look  of  full  and  fearless  confi- 
dence :  the  cordial  warmth,  the  fresh  and  buoyant  sallies  of 
her  ready  wit,  had  departed,  and  in  their  place  was  a  timid 
reserve,  a  cautious,  shrinking  delicacy,  blended  with  a  quiet 
but  watchful  spirit  of  repartee,  that  flattered  by  the  very 
degree  of  attention  it  betokened. 

Perhaps  our  reader  will  not  feel  pleased  with  us  for  saying 
that  she  was  more   beautiful  now  than  before ;  that  inter- 


A  MIDNIGHT  RECEPTION.  261 

course  with  the  world,  dress,  manners,  the  tact  of  societj', 
the  stimulus  of  admiration,  the  assured  sense  of  her  own 
charms,  however  they  may  have  detracted  from  the  moral 
purity  of  her  nature,  had  yet  invested  her  appearance  with 
higher  and  more  striking  fascinations.  Her  walk,  her 
courtesy,  the  passing  motion  of  her  hand,  her  attitude  as  she 
sat,  were  perfect  studies  of  grace.  Not  a  trace  was  left  of 
her  former  manner ;  all  was  ease,  pliancy,  and  elegance. 
Two  persons  were  seated  near  her:  one  of  these,  our  old 
acquaintance,  George  Onslow;  the  other  was  a  dark,  sallow- 
visaged  man,  whose  age  might  have  been  anything  from 
thirty-five  to  sixty,  —  for,  while  his  features  were  marked  by 
the  hard  lines  of  time,  his  figure  had  all  the  semblance  of 
youth.  By  a  broad  blue  ribbon  round  his  neck  he  wore  the 
decoration  of  Saint  Nicholas,  and  the  breast  of  his  coat  was 
covered  with  stars,  crosses,  and  orders  of  half  the  courts  of 
Europe.  This  was  Prince  Midchekoff,  whose  grandfather, 
having  taken  an  active  part  in  the  assassination  of  the 
Emperor  Paul,  had  never  been  reconciled  to  the  Imperial 
family,  and  was  permitted  to  reside  in  a  kind  of  honorable 
banishment  out  of  Russia ;  a  punishment  which  he  bore  up 
under,  it  was  said,  with  admirable  fortitude.  His  fortune 
was  reputed  to  be  immense,  and  there  was  scarcely  a  capital 
of  Europe  in  which  he  did  not  possess  a  residence.  The 
character  of  his  face  was  peculiar,  for  while  the  forehead 
and  eyes  were  intellectual  and  candid,  the  lower  jaw  and 
mouth  revealed  his  Calmuck  origin,  an  expression  of  intense, 
unrelenting  cruelty  being  the  impression  at  once  conveyed  by 
the  thin,  straight,  compressed  lips,  and  the  long,  projecting 
chin,  seeming  even  longer  from  the  black-pointed  beard  he 
wore.  There  was  nothing  vulgar  or  common-place  about 
him ;  he  never  could  have  passed  unobserved  anywhere,  and 
yet  he  was  equally  far  from  the  type  of  high  birth.  His  man- 
ners were  perfectly  well  bred  ;  and  although  he  spoke  seldom, 
his  quiet  and  attentive  air  and  his  easy  smile  showed  he 
possessed  the  still  rarer  quality  of  listening  well. 

There  was  another  figure,  not  exactly  of  this  group,  but 
at  a  little  distance  off,  beside  a  table  in  a  recess,  on  which  a 
number  of  prints  and  drawings  were  scattered,  and  in  the 
contemplation  of  which  he  affected  to  be  absorbed;  while, 


262  THE  DALTONS. 

from  time  to  time,  his  dark  eyes  flashed  rapidly  across  to 
note  all  that  went  forward.  He  was  a  tall  and  singularly 
handsome  man,  in  the  dress  of  a  priest.  His  hair,  black 
and  waving,  covered  a  forehead  high,  massive,  and  well 
developed ;  his  eyes  were  deep-set,  and  around  the  orbits 
ran  lines  that  told  of  long  and  hard  study,  —  for  the  Abbe 
D'Esmonde  was  a  distinguished  scholar;  and,  as  a  means  of 
withdrawing  him  for  a  season  from  the  overtoil  of  reading, 
he  had  been  attached  temporarily  as  a  species  of  Under- 
Secretary  to  the  Mission  of  the  "  Nonce."  In  this  guise  he 
was  admitted  into  all  the  society  of  the  capital,  where  his 
polished  address  and  gentle  manner  soon  made  him  a 
general  favorite. 

Equally  removed  from  the  flippant  levity  of  the  abbe  as  a 
class,  and  the  gross  and  sensual  coarseness  of  the  "old 
priest,"  D'Esmonde  was  a  perfect  man  of  the  world,  so  far 
as  taking  a  lively  interest  in  all  the  great  events  of  politics, 
watching  eagerly  the  changeful  features  of  the  times,  and 
studying  acutely  the  characters  of  the  leading  men,  at  whose 
dictates  they  were  modified.  Its  pleasures  and  amusements, 
too,  he  was  willing  to  partake  of  moderately  and  unobtru- 
sively ;  but  he  held  himself  far  apart  from  all  those  subjects 
of  gossip  and  small-talk  which,  in  a  society  of  lax  morality, 
occupy  so  considerable  a  space,  and  in  which  the  great  dig- 
nitaries who  wear  scarlet  and  purple  stockings  are  often 
seen  to  take  a  lively  and  animated  share.  Some  ascribed 
this  reserve  to  principle ;  others  called  it  hypocrisy ;  and 
some,  again,  perhaps  with  more  truth,  deemed  it  the  settled 
line  of  action  of  one  who  already  destined  himself  for  a 
high  and  conspicuous  station,  and  had  determined  that  his 
character  should  add  weight  and  dignity  to  his  talents. 

It  might  have  been  thought  that  he  was  a  singular  guest 
to  have  been  admitted  to  receptions  like  the  present;  but 
Jekyl,  who  managed  everything,  had  invited  him,  on  the 
principle,  as  he  said,  that  a  gourmand  has  a  decanter  of 
water  always  beside  him  at  dinner,  "  not  to  drink,  but  be- 
cause it  looks  temperate."  The  abbe's  presence  had  the 
same  effect;  and,  certainly,  his  calm  and  dignified  de- 
meanor, his  polished  address,  and  cultivated  tone,  were 
excellent  certificates  of  good  character  for  the  rest. 


A  MIDNIGHT  RECEPTION.  263 

At  the  tea-table  the  conversation  languished,  or  only  went 
forward  at  intervals.  Onslow's  French  was  not  fluent,  and 
he  was  silent  from  shame.  Kate  felt  that  she  ought  not  to 
take  the  lead ;  and  the  Prince,  habitually  reserved,  spoke 
very  little,  and  even  that  in  the  discursiv^e,  unconnected  tone 
of  a  man  who  was  always  accustomed  to  find  that  any  topic 
he  started  should  be  instantly  adopted  by  the  company. 

The  cold  and  steady  stare  with  which  he  surveyed  her 
would,  but  a  short  time  back,  have  covered  her  face  with  a 
blush ;  she  could  not  have  borne  unabashed  the  glance  of 
searching,  almost  insolent  meaning  he  bestowed  upon  her; 
but  now,  whatever  her  heart  might  have  felt,  her  features 
were  calm  and  passionless;  nor  did  she  in  the  slightest 
degree  show  any  consciousness  of  a  manner  that  was  cost- 
ing Onslow  a  struggle  whether  to  laugh  at  or  resent. 

In  one  sense  these  two  men  were  rivals,  but  each  so  im- 
pressed with  proud  contempt  for  the  other,  their  rivalry  was 
unknown  to  both.  Kate,  however,  with  her  woman's  tact, 
saw  this,  and  knew  well  how  her  least  smile  or  slightest 
word  inclined  the  balance  to  this  side  or  to  that.  The 
Prince  was  inveighing  against  the  habit  of  wintering  in  Italy 
as  one  of  the  most  capital  blunders  of  the  age. 

"We  forget,"  said  he,  "that,  in  our  present  civilization, 
art  is  always  first  and  nature  second,  as  we  see  evidenced 
in  all  the  results  of  agriculture.  It  is  not  the  most  fertile 
soil,  but  the  highest-labored  one  which  produces  the  best 
fruits.  So  with  respect  to  climate,  we  never  bear  in  mind 
that,  where  nature  does  most,  man  always  does  least." 

"According  to  that  rule,  Prince,  we  should  winter  at  St. 
Petersburg,  and  spend  the  dog-days  at  Calcutta,"  said  Kate, 
smiling. 

"So  we  should,"  replied  he;  "the  appliances  to  resist 
heat  or  cold,  of  man's  invention,  are  far  better  adapted  to 
enjoyment  than  the  accidental  variations  of  climate." 

"In  my  country,"  said  Onslow,  tartly,  "men  study  less 
how  to  avoid  the  inclemencies  of  weather  than  to  become 
indifferent  to  them.  Hunting,  shooting,  and  deer-stalking 
are  very  sure  methods  to  acquire  this." 

The  Prince  paid  no  attention  to  the  remark,  but  turned 
the  conversation  into  another  channel,  by  asking  Kate  if  she 


264  THE  DALTONS. 

had  ever  read  Fourier's  book.  From  this  he  wandered  away 
to  the  characteristic  differences  of  national  music,  thence  to 
the  discoveries  then  making  in  Central  America,  and  lastly, 
engaged  her  in  an  animated  discussion  of  the  question  of 
slavery.  On  none  of  these  points  was  he  deeply  or  even 
well  informed,  but  he  possessed  that  fluency  and  facility 
which  intercourse  with  society  confers;  and  as  all  his 
knowledge  was  derived  from  men,  and  not  from  books,  it 
bore  a  certain  stamp  of  originality  about  it  that  secured 
attention.  Not,  indeed,  from  George  Onslow;  he  was  the 
most  bored  of  men.  None  of  the  topics  were  his  topics. 
Of  Tattersall's,  the  Guards'  Club,  the  society  of  Loudon, 
the  odds  on  the  "Derby,"  he  could  have  discoursed  well  and 
pleasantly.  From  what  was  "  wrong  "  with  the  Sambucca 
filly  to  what  was  not  right  with  Lady  Flutterton's  niece,  he 
could  have  told  you  everything ;  but  all  these  other  themes 
were,  in  his  estimation,  but  sheer  pedantry,  and,  indeed, 
they  only  lacked  a  little  knowledge  —  a  very  little  would 
have  sufficed  —  to  be  so. 

"He  is  gone,"  said  the  Prince,  with  a  caustic  smile  which 
revealed  a  plan;  "gone  at  last." 

"So,  then,  this  was  a  device  of  yours,  Prince,"  said  she, 
laughing.  "I  really  must  call  my  cousin  back  and  tell 
him  so." 

"No,  no,"  said  he,  seriously.  "I  have  won  my  battle, 
let  me  profit  by  my  victory.  Let  me  speak  to  you  on 
another  subject."  He  drew  his  chair  a  little  nearer  to  the 
table  as  he  spoke,  and  laid  his  arm  on  it.  Kate's  heart 
beat  fast  and  full ;  and  the  color  came  and  went  rapidly  iu 
her  cheek.  A  vague  sense  of  fear,  of  shame,  and  of  trium- 
phant pride  were  all  at  conflict  within  her.  There  was  but 
one  theme  in  the  world  that  could  have  warranted  such  a 
commencement,  —  so  serious,  so  grave,  so  purpose-like. 
Was  this,  then,  possible? 

The  glittering  stars  —  all  a  blaze  of  brilliants  —  that 
shone  beside  her  seemed  an  emblem  of  that  high  state 
which  was  now  within  her  reach;  and  what  a  torrent  of 
varied  emotions  rushed  through  her  heart!  Of  home,  of 
her  father,  of  Nelly,  of  Frank;  and,  lastly,  what  thoughts 
of  George,  —  poor  George,  —  whom  she  knew  loved  her, 


A  MIDNIGHT  RECEPTION.  265 

and  to  whom,  without  loving,  she  was  not  altogether  indif- 
ferent. "Do  not  be  agitated.  Mademoiselle,"  said  the 
prince,  laying  the  slightest  touch  of  his  jewelled  fingers  on 
her  arm.  "I  ask  a  little  patience  and  a  little  calm  consid- 
eration for  what  I  am  about  to  say." 

"Is  that  really  like  an  Irish  peasant's  cottage.  Miss  Dal- 
ton  ?  "  said  the  abbe,  as  he  held  before  her  a  drawing  of  one, 
in  all  the  details  of  its  most  striking  misery. 

"Yes,  perfectly;  not  exaggerated  in  the  least,"  said  she, 
hurriedly  blushing  alike  at  the  surprise  and  the  interruption. 

"You  have  no  such  misery.  Monsieur  le  Prince,  in  Russia, 
I  believe?  "  remarked  the  priest,  with  a  courteous  bend  of 
the  head. 

"We  are  well  governed,  sir;  and  nothing  displays  it  more 
palpably  than  that  no  man  forgets  his  station,"  said  the 
prince,  with  an  insolent  hauteur  that  made  Kate  blush  over 
neck  and  forehead,  while  D'Esmonde  stood  calm  and  pas- 
sionless under  the  sarcasm. 

"So  I  have  always  heard,  sir,"  said  he,  blandly.  "I 
remember,  when  at  Wredna  —  " 

"You  have  been  at  Wredna?"  asked  the  Prince,  in  an 
altered  voice. 

But  the  other,  not  heeding  the  interruption,  went  on :  — 

"I  remember,  when  at  Wredna,  to  have  heard  an  anecdote 
which  strikingly  illustrates  the  rigid  obedience  yielded  to 
power,  and  the  condition  of  public  opinion  at  the  same 
time.  A  manumitted  slave,  who  was  raised  to  high  rank 
and  wealth  by  the  favor  of  the  Czar,  had  returned  to 
Wredna  in  the  capacity  of  governor.  A  short  time  after 
his  arrival  he  was  tormented  by  applications  and  letters 
from  a  woman  in  great  poverty  who  asserted  that  she  was 
his  mother.  Fedeorovna,  of  course  in  secret,  proved  the 
truth  of  her  assertion ;  but  the  only  answer  she  received  was 
a  significant  caution  to  be  silent,  and  not  appeal  to  a  rela- 
tionship which  could  only  prove  offensive.  Perhaps  incred- 
ulous of  the  authentic  character  of  so  cruel  a  reply,  perhaps 
stung  to  angry  indignation  by  it,  she  carried  the  humble 
basket  of  fruit  and  vegetables  that  she  hawked  for  a  liveli- 
hood before  the  door  of  the  great  mansion  where  her  son 
resided;  but,  instead  of   advertising  her  wares,  as  is  cus- 


266  THE  DALTONS. 

tomary  in  these  Muscovite  markets,  by  some  picture  of  a 
saint  or  some  holy  inscription,  she  carried  a  little  placard, 
with  the  inscription,  —  '  The  Mother  of  Alexovitch, '  the 
name  of  the  Governor.  A  crowd  soon  gathered  around 
this  singular  booth,  heralded  by  so  strange  an  announce- 
ment, and  as  speedily  the  police  resorted  to  the  spot,  and 
carried  the  offender  before  the  judge.  The  defence  was  the 
simple  one  that  she  had  merely  averred  the  truth.  I  need 
not  weary  you  with  the  mockery  of  investigation  that  fol- 
lowed; the  result  is  all  I  need  tell.  This  woman  was 
knouted  and  sent  away  to  Siberia.  So  much  for  the  Gov- 
ernor. As  for  the  governed,  they  were  enthusiastic  in 
praise  of  his  justice  and  clemency;  for  he  might  have 
ordered  her  to  be  beheaded." 

"Do  you  tell  the  story  as  a  fact,  sir?  "  said  the  Prince, 
whose  dark  cheek  became  almost  green  in  its  sallowness  as 
he  spoke. 

"I  tell  it  distinctly  as  a  fact.  The  Papa  who  received 
the  woman's  confession  repeated  the  tale  on  his  own  death- 
bed, from  whence  it  reached  me." 

"Priests  can  be  liars,  whether  Greek  or  Roman,"  said 
the  Prince,  in  a  voice  almost  suffocated  with  passion ;  and 
then,  suddenly  checking  the  course  of  his  anger,  he  turned 
to  Kate  with  a  sickly  smile,  and  said,  "Mademoiselle  will 
pardon  a  rudeness  in  her  presence  which  nothing  short  of 
so  gross  a  calumny  could  have  elicited." 

"I  will  furnish  you  with  all  the  names  to-morrow,  Mon- 
sieur le  Prince,"  said  D'Esmonde,  in  a  whisper;  and  saun- 
tered away  into  the  adjoining  room. 

"You  look  pale.  Miss  Dalton,"  said  the  Prince. 

"That  shocking  story  —  " 

"Which  of  course  you  don't  believe." 

"The  Abbe  D'Esmonde  I  have  always  heard  to  be  a 
person  of  strict  veracity  and  of  extreme  caution." 

"Be  careful  of  him.  Miss  Dalton.  It  is  not  without  good 
reason  that  I  say  this." 

There  was  a  degree  of  solemnity  in  the  way  he  uttered 
these  words  that  made  Kate  thoughtful  and  serious.  Unac- 
customed to  see,  in  society,  anything  but  features  of  pleas- 
ure and  amusement,  she  was  suddenly  awakened  to  the 


A  MIDNIGHT  RECEPTION  267 

conviction  that  its  calm  waters  covered  rocks  and  quick- 
sands as  perilous  as  stormier  seas.  Could  people  so  full  of 
amiabilities  be  dangerous  acquaintances?  Was  there  poison 
in  this  charmed  cup  ?  Was  the  doubt  which  sprang  to  her 
mind  —  But  she  had  not  time  for  the  inquiry,  as  the  Prince 
offered  her  his  arm  to  the  supper-room. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

A    "LEVANTER." 

In  our  penal  settlements  nothing  is  more  common  than  to 
find  the  places  of  honor  and  distinction  filled  by  men  who 
were  once  convicts,  and  who  may  date  the  favorable  turn 
of  their  fortune  to  the  day  of  their  having  transgressed  the 
law.  So  in  certain  Continental  cities  are  individuals  to  be 
found  occupying  conspicuous  stations,  and  enjoying  a  large 
share  of  influence,  whose  misdeeds  at  home  first  made  them 
exiles,  and  who,  leaving  England  in  shame,  are  received 
abroad  with  honor.  There  is  this  difference  between  the 
two  cases ;  for  while  the  convict  owes  all  his  future  advance- 
ment to  his  own  efforts  at  reformation,  the  absentee  obtains 
his  "brevet"  of  character  by  the  simple  fact  of  his  extra- 
dition. He  shakes  off  his  rascalities  as  he  does  his  rheu- 
matism, when  he  quits  the  foggy  climate  of  England,  and 
emerges  spotless  and  without  stain  upon  the  shores  of 
Ostend  or  Boulogne. 

To  do  this,  however,  he  must  not  bear  a  plebeian  name, 
nor  pertain  to  the  undistinguishable  herd  of  vulgar  folk. 
He  must  belong  to  some  family  of  mark  and  note,  with 
peers  for  his  uncles  and  peeresses  for  cousins;  nor  is  he 
always  safe  if  he  himself  be  not  a  member  of  an  hereditary 
legislature.  We  have  been  led  to  these  reflections  by  hav- 
ing to  chronicle  the  arrival  in  Florence  of  Lord  Norwood; 
a  vague  and  confused  murmur  of  his  having  done  some- 
thing, people  knew  not  what,  in  England  having  preceded 
him.  Some  called  him  "poor  Norwood,"  and  expressed 
801T0W  for  him ;  others  said  he  was  a  capital  fellow,  up  to 
everything,  and  that  they  were  delighted  at  his  coming.  A 
few,  of  very  tender  and  languishing  virtue  themselves, 
wondered  if  they  ought  to  meet  him  as  before;  but  the 
prevailing  impression  was  charitable.     The  affair  at  Gra- 


A  "LEVANTER."  269 

ham's  might  have  been  exaggerated,  the  Newmarket  busi- 
ness was  possibly  a  mistake.  "Any  man  might  owe 
money,  and  not  be  able  to  pay  it,"  was  a  sentiment  pretty 
generally  repeated  and  as  generally  believed ;  and,  in  fact, 
if  to  be  tried  by  one's  peers  be  an  English  privilege,  the 
noble  Viscount  here  enjoyed  it  at  the  hands  of  a  jury  unim- 
peachable on  the  score  of  equality. 

We  are  far  from  suggesting  that  Norwood's  character  as 
a  "shot"  had  any  concern  with  this  mild  verdict;  but  certain 
it  is,  his  merits  in  this  capacity  were  frequently  remembered, 
and  always  with  honorable  mention. 

"No  man  plays  ecarte  better,"  said  Haggerstone,  while 
as  yet  the  Viscount's  arrival  was  unknown,  and  as  he  dis- 
cussed the  rumors  upon  him  before  a  group  of  listening 
Englishmen  at  the  door  of  the  "Club,"  —  "no  man  plays 
ecarte  better,  nor  with  better  luck !  "  added  he,  with  a 
chuckle  that  was  intended  to  convey  a  meaning  beyond  the 
mere  words. 

"Has  he  been  a  large  winner,  then?"  asked  one  of  the 
bystanders,  respectfully,  looking  to  the  Colonel  for  informa- 
tion; for,  in  a  certain  set,  he  was  regarded  as  the  most 
thoroughly  conversant  man  with  all  the  faults  and  follies 
of  high  life. 

"No  man  wins  invariably,  sir,  except  Brooke  Morris, 
perhaps,"  replied  he,  always  happy  at  the  opportunity  to 
quote  the  name  of  a  man  of  fashion  in  a  tone  of  familiarity. 

"That  was  the  Mo-Mo-Morris  that  ruined  Hopeton,  was  n't 
it?"  broke  in  Purvis,  quite  forgetting  that  the  individual 
he  addressed  was  reported  to  have  a  share  in  the  transaction. 
Haggerstone,  however,  did  not  deign  a  reply,  but  puffed  his 
cigar  in  perfect  contempt  of  his  questioner. 

"Who  is  this  coming  up  here?"  said  one;  "he  looks  like 
a  new  arrival.  He  is  English,  certainly;  that  frock  has  a 
London  cut  there's  no  mistaking." 

"By  Jove,  it's  Norwood!"  cried  Haggerstone,  edging 
away,  as  he  spoke,  from  the  group.  Meanwhile,  the  noble 
Viscount,  a  well-dressed,  well-whiskered  man,  of  about 
thirty,  came  leisurely  forward,  and  touching  his  hat  famil- 
iarly, said,  — 

"Ha!  you  here,  Haggerstone!     What  is  Florence  doing?  " 


270  THE  DALTONS. 

*'Pretty  much  as  it  always  did,  my  Lord.  I  don't  think 
its  morals  have  improved  since  you  knew  it  a  few  years 
ago." 

"Or  you  wouldn't  be  here,  Haggy, — eh?"  said  the 
Viscount,  laughing  at  his  own  joke.  "Not  suit  your  book 
if  it  took  a  virtuous  turn,  —  eh  ?  " 

"I  plead  guilty,  my  Lord.  I  believe  I  do  like  to  shoot 
folly  as  it  flies." 

"Ah,  yes!  And  I've  seen  you  taking  a  sitting  shot  at  it 
too,  Haggy,"  said  the  other,  with  a  heartier  laugh,  which, 
despite  of  the  Colonel's  efforts  not  to  feel,  brought  a  crim- 
son flush  to  his  cheek. 

"Is  there  any  play  going  on,  Haggy?" 

"Nothing  that  you  would  call  play,  my  Lord;  a  little 
whist  for  Nap  points,  a  little  ecarte,  a  little  piquet,  and, 
now  and  then,  we  have  a  round  game  at  Sabloukoff's." 

"Poor  old  fellow!  and  he 's  alive  still?  And  where 's  the 
Jariominski?" 

"Gone  back  to  Russia." 

"And  Maretti?  " 

"In  Saint  Angelo,  I  believe." 

"And  that  little  Frenchman  —  what  was  his  name?  —  his 
father  was  a  Marshal  of  the  Empire." 

"D'Acosta." 

"The  same.     Where  is  he?  " 

"Shot  himself  this  spring." 

"Pretty  girl,  his  sister.     What  became  of  her?  " 

"Some  one  told  me  that  she  had  become  a  Soeur  de 
Charite." 

"What  a  pity!     So  they  're  all  broken  up,  I  see." 

"Completely  so." 

"Then  what  have  you  got  in  their  place?  " 

"Nothing  fast,  my  Lord,  except,  perhaps,  your  friends 
the  Onslows." 

"Yes;  they  're  going  it,  I  hear.  Is  n't  there  a  rich  niece, 
or  cousin,  or  something  of  that  sort,  with  them  ?  " 

"They've  got  a  pretty  ish  girl,  called  Dal  ton;  but  as  to 
her  being  rich,  I  think  it  very  unlikely,  seeing  that  her 
family  are  living  in  Germany  in  a  state  of  the  very  closest 
poverty." 


A  "LEVANTER."  271 

"And  Master  George,  how  does  he  carry  on  the  war?  " 
said  the  Viscount,  who  seemed  quite  heedless  of  the  other's 
correction. 

"He  plays  a  little  peddling  ecarte  now  and  then;  but  you 
can  see  that  he  has  burned  his  fingers,  and  dreads  the  fire. 
They  say  he  's  in  love  with  the  Dalton  girl." 

"Of  course  he  is,  if  they  live  in  the  same  house;  and 
he 's  just  the  kind  of  fool  to  marry  her,  too.  Who  's  that 
little  fellow,  listening  to  us?" 

"Purvis,  my  Lord;  don't  you  remember  him?  He's 
one  of  the  Ricketts's  set." 

"To  be  sure  I  do.  How  are  you,  Purvis?  You  look 
so  young  and  so  fresh,  I  could  not  persuade  myself  it  could 
be  my  old  acquaintance." 

"I  've  taken  to  homoe-homoe-homoe-homoe  —  "  Here  he 
opened  his  mouth  wide,  and  gasped  till  he  grew  black  in  the 
face. 

"What's  the  word?  Give  it  him,  Haggy.  It's  all  up 
with  him,"  said  the  Viscount. 

*'  Homoeopathy,  —  eh  ?  " 

"Just  so.     Homoe-homoe  —  " 

"Confound  it,  man,  can't  you  be  satisfied?  when  you're 
once  over  the  fence,  you  need  n't  go  back  to  leap  it.  And 
how  is  the  dear  —  what's  her  name  —  Agathe?  —  no,  Zoe, 
—  how  is  she?" 

*'  Quite  well,  my  Lord,  and  would  be  cha-cha-cha-rmed  to 
see  you." 

"Living  in  that  queer  humbug  still,  — eh?  " 

"In  the  Vill-ino,  my  Lord,  you  mean?  " 

"Egad!  she  seems  the  only  thing  left;  like  the  dog  on  the 
wreck,  —  eh,  Haggy  ?  " 

"Just  so,  my  Lord,"  said  the  other,  with  a  complacent 
laugh. 

"What  a  mass  of  old  crockery  she  must  have  got  together 
by  this  time!  "  said  the  Viscount,  yawning  with  a  terrible 
recollection  of  her  tiresomeness. 

"You  came  out  with  a  yacht,  my  Lord?  "  asked  Hagger- 
stone. 

"Pretty  well,  for  a  man  that  they  call  ru-ni- ruined,"  said 
Purvis,  laughing. 


272  THE  DALTONS. 

Norwood  turned  a  look  of  angry  indignation  at  him,  and 
then,  as  if  seeing  the  unworthiness  of  the  object,  merely 
said,  — 

"A  yacht  is  the  only  real  economy  nowadays.  You 
get  rid  at  once  of  all  trains  of  servants,  household,  stable 
people;  even  the  bores  of  your  acquaintance  you  cut  off. 
By- by,  Purvis."  And,  with  a  significant  wink  at  Hagger- 
stone,  he  passed  across  the  street,  in  time  to  overtake 
Onslow,  who  was  just  passing. 

"I  think  I  ga-ga-gave  it  him  there,"  cried  Purvis,  with 
an  hysteric  giggle  of  delight;  who,  provided  that  he  was 
permitted  to  fire  his  shot,  never  cared  how  severely  he  was 
himself  riddled  by  the  enemy's  fire.  Meanwhile,  the  Vis- 
count and  his  friend  were  hastening  forward  to  the  Mazza- 
rini  Palace,  as  totally  forgetful  of  Purvis  as  though  that 
valuable  individual  had  never  existed. 

We  may  take  this  opportunity  to  mention,  that  when  the 
rumors  which  attributed  a  grand  breach  of  honorable  con- 
duct to  Lord  Norwood  had  arrived  at  Florence,  Sir  Stafford, 
who  never  had  any  peculiar  affection  for  the  Viscount, 
declared  himself  in  the  very  strongest  terms  on  the  subject 
of  his  offending,  and  took  especial  pains  to  show  the 
marked  distinction  between  occasions  of  mere  wasteful 
extravagance  and  instances  of  fraudulent  and  dishonest 
debt. 

It  was  in  vain  he  was  told  that  the  rigid  rule  of  English 
morality  is  always  relaxed  abroad,  and  that  the  moral 
latitude  is  very  different  in  London  and  Naples.  He  was 
old-fashioned  enough  to  believe  that  honor  is  the  same  in 
all  climates;  and  having  received  from  England  a  very 
detailed  and  specific  history  of  the  noble  Lord's  misdoings, 
he  firmly  resolved  not  to  receive  him. 

With  all  George  Onslow's  affection  and  respect  for  his 
father,  he  could  not  help  feeling  that  this  was  a  mere  preju- 
dice, —  one  of  the  lingering  remnants  of  a  past  age;  a  sen- 
timent very  respectable,  perhaps,  but  totally  inapplicable 
to  present  civilization,  and  quite  impracticable  in  society. 
In  fact,  as  he  said  himself,  "Who  is  to  be  known,  if  this 
rule  be  acted  on?  What  man  —  or,  further  still,  what 
woman  —  of  fashionable  life  will  stand  this  scrutiny  ?    To 


A  "LEVANTER."  273 

attempt  such  exelusiveness,  one  should  retire  to  some  remote 
provincial  town,  some  fishing-village  of  patriarchal  sim- 
plicity; and,  even  there,  what  security  was  there  against 
ignoble  oflfendings?  How  should  he  stand  the  ridicule  of 
his  club  and  his  acquaintance  if  he  attempted  to  assume 
such  a  standard?"  These  arguments  were  strengthened  by 
his  disbelief,  or  rather  his  repugnance  to  believe  the  worst 
of  Norwood;  and  furthermore,  supported  by  Lady  Hester's 
open  scorn  for  all  such  "hypocritical  trumpery,"  and  her 
avowal  that  the  Viscount  should  be  received,  by  Aer,  at 
least.  Exactly  as  of  old,  George  Onslow's  mind  was  in  a 
state  of  oscillation  and  doubt  —  now  leaning  to  this  side, 
now  inclining  to  that  —  when  the  question  was  decided  for 
him,  as  it  so  often  is  in  like  cases,  by  a  mere  accident; 
for,  as  he  loitered  along  the  street,  he  suddenl}^  felt  an  arm 
introduced  within  his  own.  He  turned  hastily  round  and 
saw  Norwood,  who,  with,  all  his  customar}'  coolness,  asked 
after  each  member  of  the  family,  and  at  once  proposed  to 
pay  them  a  visit. 

Of  all  men  living,  none  were  less  suited  than  Onslow  for 
assuming  any  part,  or  taking  any  decisive  line,  which  could 
possibly  be  avoided,  or  even  postponed.  He  hated,  besides, 
to  do  an  ungracious  thing  anywhere,  or  to  any  one.  It 
might  be,  thought  he,  that  Norwood's  scrape  could  all  be 
explained  away.  Perhaps,  after  all,  the  thing  is  a  mere 
trifle;  and  if  he  were  to  take  the  decided  line  of  cutting  a 
man  without  due  cause,  the  consequences  might  be  most 
injurious.  These,  and  fifty  such-like  scruples,  warred 
within  him,  and  so  engaged  his  attention  that  he  actually 
heard  not  one  word  of  all  that  "  town  gossip  "  which  Nor- 
wood was  retailing  for  his  amusement.  At  last,  while 
following  out  his  own  thoughts,  George  came  to  the  resolu- 
tion of  finding  out  at  once  the  precise  position  in  which 
Norwood  stood,  and  to  this  end  asked  the  last  news  from 
Newmarket. 

Norwood's  coolness  never  forsook  him  at  a  question 
whose  very  suddenness  was  somewhat  awkward. 

"Bad  enough,"  said  he,  with  an  easy  laugh.  ""We  have 
all  of  us  been  '  hit  hard.'  Knolesby  has  lost  heavily. 
Burchester,  too,  has  had  a  smasher;  and   I   myself   have 

VOL.  1.  — 18 


274  THE  DALTONS. 

not  escaped.  In  fact,  George,  the  '  Legs  '  have  had  it  all 
their  own  way.  I  suppose  you  heard  something  about  it 
out  here?" 

"Why,  yes;  there  were  reports  —  " 

"Oh,  hang  reports,  man!  Never  trust  to  old  women's 
tales.  And  that  confounded  fellow,  Haggerstone,  I  'm 
certain,  has  been  spreading  all  kinds  of  stories.  But  the 
facts  are  simple  enough." 

"I  'm  heartily  glad  you  say  so;  for,  to  tell  you  the  truth, 
Norwood,  my  father  is  one  of  the  prejudiced  about  this 
affair,  and  I  'm  dying  to  be  able  to  give  him  a  full  explana- 
tion of  the  whole." 

"Ah,  Sir  Stafford,  too,  among  the  credulous!  "  said  Nor- 
wood, slowly.  "I  could  scarcely  have  supposed  so.  No 
matter;  only  I  did  fancy  that  he  was  not  exactly  the  person 
to  form  hasty  conclusions  against  any  man's  character. 
However,  you  may  tell  him  —  for,  as  for  myself,  I  '11  not 
condescend  to  explain  to  any  one  but  you  —  the  thing  is  a 
very  simple  one.  There  was  a  mare  of  Hopeton's,  a  Brock- 
don  filly,  entered  for  the  Slingsby,  and  a  number  of  us 
agreed  to  '  go  a  heavy  thing  '  upon  her  against  the  field.  A 
bold  coup  always,  George,  that  backing  against  the  field. 
Never  do  it,  my  boy,  and  particularly  when  you  've  a  set  of 
rascally  foreign  Legs  banded  against  you,  —  Poles  and  Hun- 
garian fellows,  George;  the  downiest  coves  ever  you  met, 
and  who,  in  their  confounded  jargon,  can  sell  you  before 
your  own  face.  Nothing  like  John  Bull,  my  boy.  Straight, 
frank,  and  open  John  forever!  Hit  him  hard  and  he  '11  hit 
you  again;  but  no  treachery,  no  stab  in  the  dark.  Oh, 
no,  "no!  The  turf  in  England  was  another  thing  before 
these  Continental  rascals  came  amongst  us.  I  was  always 
against  admitting  them  within  the  ring.  I  black-balled  a 
dozen  of  them  at  the  Club.  But  see  what  perseverance 
does;  they're  all  in  now.  There's  no  John-Bull  feeling 
among  our  set,  and  we  're  paying  a  smart  price  for  it. 
Never  trust  those  German  fellows,  George.  Out  of  Eng- 
land there  is  no  truth,  no  honor.  But,  above  all,  don't  back 
against  the  field;  there  are  so  many  dodges  against  you; 
so  many  '  dark  horses  '  come  out  fair.  That 's  it,  you  see; 
that 's  the  way  I  got  it  so  heavily;  for  when  Ruxton  came 


A  "LEVANTER."  275 

and  told  me  that '  Help-me-Over '  was  dead  lame,  I  believed 
him.  A  fetlock  lameness  is  no  trifle,  you  know;  and  there 
was  a  swelling  as  large  as  my  hand  around  the  coronet. 
The  foreign  fellows  can  manage  that  in  the  morning,  and 
the  horse  will  run  to  win  the  same  day.  I  saw  it  myself. 
Ah,  John  Bull  forever!  No  guile,  no  deceit  in  him.  Mind 
me,  George,  I  make  this  confession  for  you  alone.  I  '11  not 
stoop  to  repeat  it.  If  any  man  dare  to  insinuate  anything 
to  my  discredit,  I  '11  never  give  myself  the  trouble  of  one 
word  of  explanation,  but  nail  him  to  it,  —  twelve  paces,  and 
no  mistake.  I  don't  think  my  right  hand  has  forgot  its 
cunning.  Have  him  out  at  once,  George;  parade  him  on 
the  spot,  my  boy;  that 's  the  only  plan.  What!  is  this  your 
quarter?"  asked  he,  as  they  stopped  at  the  entrance  of  the 
spacious  palace.  "1  used  to  know  this  house  well  of  old. 
It  was  the  Embassy  in  Templeton's  time.  Very  snug  it 
used  to  be.  Glad  to  see  you  've  banished  all  those  maimed 
old  deities  that  used  to  line  the  staircase,  and  got  rid  of 
that  tiresome  tapestry,  too.  Pretty  vases  those;  fresh- 
looking  that  conservatory,  —  they  're  always  strong  in 
camellias  in  Florence.  This  used  to  be  the  billiard-room. 
I  think  you've  made  a  good  alteration;  it  looks  better  as 
a  salon.  Ah,  I  like  this, — excellent  taste  that  chintz 
furniture;  just  the  thing  for  Italy,  and  exactly  what  nobody 
thought  of  before !  " 

"I'll  see  if  my  Lady  be  visible,"  said  George,  as  he 
threw  the  "Morning  Post"  to  his  friend,  and  hastily  quitted 
the  chamber. 

Norwood  was  no  sooner  left  alone  than  he  proceeded  to 
take  a  leisurely  survey  of  the  apartment,  in  the  course  of 
which  his  attention  was  arrested  by  a  water-color  drawing, 
representing  a  young  girl  leaning  over  a  balcony,  and  which 
he  had  no  difficulty  in  at  once  guessing  to  be  Kate  Dalton. 
There  was  something  in  the  character  of  her  beauty  —  an 
air  of  almost  daring  haughtiness  —  that  seemed  to  strike  his 
fancy;  for,  as  he  gazed,  he  drew  himself  up  to  his  full 
height,  and  seemed  to  assume  in  his  own  features  the  proud 
expression  of  the  portrait. 

"  With  a  hundred  thousand  and  that  face  one  might  make 
you  a  viscountess,  and  yet  not  do  badly,  either,"  said  he  to 


276  THE  DALTONS. 

himself;  and  then,  as  if  satisfied  that  he  had  given  time 
enough  to  a  mere  speculative  thought,  he  turned  over  the 
visiting-cards  to  see  the  names  of  the  current  acquaintance: 
"Midchekoff,  Estrolenka,  Janini,  Tiverton,  Latrobe,  — 
the  old  set;  the  Ricketts,  too,  and  Haggerstone.  What 
can  have  brought  them  here?  Oh,  there  must  have  been 
a  ball,  for  here  are  shoals  of  outsiders,  —  the  great  Smith- 
Brown-and-Thompson  community;  and  here,  on  the  very 
smallest  of  pasteboards,  in  the  very  meekest  of  literals, 
have  we  our  dear  friend  '  Albert  Jekyl.'  He  '11  tell  me  all 
I  want  to  know,"  said  Norwood,  as  he  threw  himself  back 
on  the  comfortable  depth  of  a  well-cushioned  chair,  and 
gave  way  to  a  pleasant  revery. 

When  George  Onslow  had  informed  Lady  Hester  of  Nor- 
wood's arrival,  he  hastened  to  Sir  Stafford's  apartment  to 
tell  him  how  completely  the  Viscount  had  exonerated  him- 
self from  any  charge  that  might  be  made  to  his  discredit; 
not,  indeed,  that  George  understood  one  syllable  of  the 
explanation,  nor  could  trace  anything  like  connection  be- 
tween the  disjointed  links  of  the  narrative.  He  could  only 
affirm  his  own  perfect  conviction  in  Norwood's  honor,  and 
hoped  an  equal  degree  of  faith  from  his  father.  Fortu- 
nately for  his  powers  of  persuasiveness,  they  were  not 
destined  to  be  so  sorelj^  tried;  for  Sir  Stafford  had  just 
walked  out,  and  George,  too  eager  to  set  all  right  about 
Norwood,  took  his  hat  and  followed,  in  the  hope  of  over- 
taking him. 

Lady  Hester  was  already  dressed,  and  about  to  enter  the 
drawing-room,  when  George  told  her  that  Norwood  was 
there;  and  yet  she  returned  to  her  room  and  made  some 
changes  in  her  toilet,  slight,  and  perhaps  too  insignificant 
to  record,  but  yet  of  importance  enough  to  occupy  some 
time,  and  afford  her  an  interval  for  thoughts  which,  what- 
ever their  nature,  seiTed  to  flush  her  cheek  and  agitate  her 
deeply. 

It  is  an  awkward  thing,  at  any  time,  to  meet  with  the 
person  to  whom  you  once  believed  you  should  have  been 
married;  to  see,  on  the  terms  of  mere  common  acquaint- 
ance, the  individual  with  whose  fate  and  fortune  you  at  one 
time  fancied  your  own  was  indissolubly  bound  up,  for  v/eal 


A  "LEVANTER."  277 

or  woe,  for  better  or  for  worse.  To  exchauge  the  vapid 
commonplaeea  of  the  world;  to  barter  the  poor  counters  of 
that  petty  game  called  society,  with  her  or  him  with  whom 
you  have  walked  in  all  the  unbounded  confidence  of  affec- 
tion, speculating  on  a  golden  future,  or  glorying  in  a  deli- 
cious dream  of  present  bliss;  to  touch  with  ceremonious 
respect  that  hand  you  have  so  often  held  fast  within  your 
own;  to  behold  with  respectful  distance  that  form  beside 
which  you  have  sat  for  hours,  lost  in  happy  fancies;  to 
stand,  as  it  were,  and  trace  out  with  the  eye  some  path  in 
life  we  might  have  followed,  wondering  whither  it  would 
have  led  us,  —  if  to  some  higher  pinnacle  of  gratified  ambi- 
tion, if  to  disappointments  darker  than  those  we  have  ever 
known, —  speculating  on  a  future  which  is  already  become  a 
past,  and  canvassing  within  our  hearts  the  follies  that  have 
misled  and  the  faults  that  have  wrecked  us!  Such  are 
among  the  inevitable  reminiscences  of  meeting;  and  they 
are  full  of  a  soft  and  touching  sorrow,  not  all  unpleasing, 
either,  as  they  remind  us  of  our  youth  and  its  buoyancy. 
Far  otherwise  was  the  present  case.  "Whatever  might  have 
been  the  bold  confidence  with  which  Lady  Hester  protested 
her  belief  in  Norwood's  honor,  her  own  heartfelt  knowledge 
of  the  man  refuted  the  assertion.  She  knew  thoroughly 
that  he  was  perfectly  devoid  of  all  principle,  and  merely 
possessed  that  conventional  degree  of  fair  dealing  indis- 
pensable to  association  with  his  equals.  That  he  would  do 
anything  short  of  what  would  subject  him  to  disgrace  she 
had  long  seen;  and  perhaps  the  unhappy  moment  had  come 
when  even  this  restraint  was  no  longer  a  barrier.  And  yet, 
with  all  this  depreciating  sense  of  the  man,  would  it  be 
believed  she  had  once  loved  him!  ay,  with  as  sincere  an 
affection  as  she  was  capable  of  feeling  for  anything. 

'T  is  true,  time  and  its  consequences  had  effaced  much  of 
this  feeling.  His  own  indifference  had  done  something, 
her  new  relations  with  the  world  had  done  more ;  and  if  she 
ever  thought  of  him  now,  it  was  with  a  degree  of  half 
terror  that  there  lived  one  man  who  had  sc  thoroughly  read 
all  the  secrets  of  her  heart,  and  knew  every  sentiment  of 
her  nature. 

Norwood  was  sitting  in  a  chair  as  she  entered,  amusing 


278  THE  DALTONS. 

himself  with  the  gambols  of  a  little  Blenheim  spaniel,  whose 
silver  collar  bore  the  coronet  of  the  Russian  prince.  He 
never  perceived  Lady  Hester  until  she  was  close  beside 
him,  and  in  an  easy,  half-indiflferent  tone,  said,  — 

"  How  d'  ye  do,  my  Lord  ?  " 

"  What,  Hester !  "  said  he,  starting  up,  and  taking  her 
hand  in  both  his  own. 

She  withdrew  it  languidly,  and  seating  herself,  not  upon 
the  sofa  to  which  he  wished  to  lead  her,  but  in  a  chair, 
asked  when  he  had  arrived,  and  by  what  route. 

"I  came  out  in  a  yacht;  stopping  a  few  days  at  Gib- 
raltar, and  a  week  at  Malta." 

"  Had  you  pleasant  weather?  " 

"  After  we  got  clear  of  the  Channel,  excellent  weather." 

"  You  came  alone,  I  suppose?  " 

"  Quite  alone." 

"  How  do  you  get  on  without  your  dear  friend  Effingdale, 
or  your  '  familiar,'  Upton?  " 

Norwood  colored  a  little  at  a  question  the  drift  of  which  he 
felt  thoroughly,  but  tried  with  a  laugh  to  evade  an  answer. 

"Are  they  in  England?  I  thought  I  read  their  names 
at  the  Newmarket  meeting?"  asked  she,  after  waiting  in 
vain  for  a  reply. 

"  Yes ;  they  were  both  at  Newmarket,"  replied  he,  shortly. 

"  Was  it  a  good  meeting?" 

"  I  can  scarcely  say  so,"  rejoined  he,  attempting  a  laugh. 
"  My  book  turned  out  very  unfortunately." 

"  I  heard  so,"  was  the  short  reply ;  and  in  a  tone  so  dry 
and  significant  that  a  dead  silence  followed. 

"Pretty  spaniel,  that,"  said  Norwood,  trying  a  slight 
sortie  into  the  enemy's  camp.  "A  present,  I  suppose, 
from  Midchekotf?" 

"  Yes." 

"It  is  not  clean  bred,  however,  no  more  than  his  late 
master.     Have  you  seen  much  of  the  Prince?  " 

"  He  comes  here  every  evening,  after  the  Opera." 

"What  a  bore  that  must  be  —  he  is  a  most  insufferable 
proser." 

"I  must  say  I  disagree  with  you;  I  reckon  him  exces- 
sively agreeable." 


A  "LEVANTER."  279 

"  How  changed  you  must  be,  Hes  —  Lady  Hester." 

"  I  believe  I  am,  my  Lord." 

"Aud  yet  you  look  the  same  —  the  very  same  as  when 
we  sauntered  for  hours  through  the  old  woods  at  Dipsley." 
She  blushed  deeply ;  less,  perhaps,  at  the  words,  than  at  the 
•look  which  accompanied  them. 

"Is  this  your  newly  found  niece  or  cousin?"  said  Nor- 
wood, as  he  pointed  to  the  portrait  of  Kate  Dal  ton. 

"  Yes.     Is  n't  she  pretty?  " 

"The  picture  is." 

"  She  is  much  handsomer,  however,  —  a  charming  creature 
in  every  respect,  —  as  you  will  confess  when  you  see  her," 

"  And  for  what  high  destiny  is  she  meant?  Is  she  to  be  a 
Russian  Pi'incess,  a  Duchessa  of  Italy,  or  the  goodwife  of  an 
untitled  Englishman  ?  " 

"  She  may  have  her  choice,  I  believe,  of  either  of  the 
three-." 

"  Happy  girl !  "  said  he.,  half  scornfully ;  "  and  when  may 
I  hope  to  behold  so  much  excellence  ?  " 

"  To-day,  if  you  like  to  dine  here." 

"  I  should  like  it  much  —  but  —  but  —  " 

"But  what?" 

"  It's  better  to  be  frank  at  once,  Hester,"  said  he,  boldly, 
"and  say  that  I  feel  you  are  grown  very  cold  and  distant 
toward  me.  This  is  not  your  old  manner,  this  not  exactly 
the  reception  I  looked  for.  Now,  if  you  have  any  cause 
for  this,  would  it  not  be  better  and  fairer  to  speak  it  out 
openly  than  continue  to  treat  me  in  this  slighting  fashion? 
You  are  silent,  —  so  there  is  something ;  pray  let 's  hear  it." 

"What  of  Newmarket?"  said  she,  in  a  low  voice,  so 
faint  as  almost  to  be  a  whisper. 

"  So  that's  it," said  he,  as  he  folded  his  arms  and  looked 
steadfastly  at  her. 

There  was  something  in  the  cold  and  steady  gaze  he 
bestowed  upon  her  that  abashed,  if  not  actually  alarmed, 
Lady  Hester.  She  had  seen  the  same  look  once  or  twice 
before,  and  always  as  the  prelude  to  some  terrible  evidence 
of  his  temper. 

"  Lady  Hester,"  said  he,  in  a  low,  distinct,  and  very 
slow  voice,  as  though  he  would  not  have  her  lose  a  word 


280  THE  DALTONS. 

he  spoke,  "the  explanation  which  a  man  would  ask  for  at 
the  peril  of  his  life  ought  not,  in  common  justice,  to  be 
quite  costless  to  a  lady.  It  is  perfectly  possible  that  you 
may  not  care  for  the  price,  —  be  it  so ;  only  I  warn  you 
that  if  you  wish  for  any  information  on  the  subject  you 
allude  to,  /  will  inquire  whether  —  " 

Here  he  dropped  his  voice,  and  whispered  two  or  three 
words  rapidly  in  her  ear,  after  which  she  lay  back,  pale,  sick, 
and  almost  fainting,  without  strength  to  speak  or  even  to 
move. 

"  Do  not  say,  or  still  less  feel,  that  this  contest  is  of  my 
provoking.  Never  was  any  man  less  in  the  humor  to  pro- 
voke hostilities,  and  particularly  from  old  friends.  I  have 
just  had  bad  luck,  —  the  very  worst  of  bad  luck.  I  have 
lost  everything  but  my  head  ;  and  even  that,  cool  and  calcu- 
lating as  it  is,  may  go  too  if  I  be  pushed  too  far.  Now  you 
have  a  frank  and  free  confession  from  me.  I  have  told  you 
more  than  I  would  to  any  other  living,  —  more,  perhaps, 
than  I  ought  even  to  you." 

"Then  what  do  you  intend  to  do  here?"  asked  she, 
faintly. 

"Wait — wait  patiently  for  awhile.  Fix  upon  anj- one 
that  I  can  discover  mutters  a  syllable  to  my  discredit,  and 
shoot  him  as  I  would  a  dog." 

"  There  may  be  some  who,  without  openly  discussing,  will 
shun  your  society,  and  avoid  your  intercourse." 

"  Sir  Stafford,  for  instance,"  said  he,  with  an  insolent 
laugh.  She  nodded  slightly,  and  he  went  on  :  "  My  Lady's 
influence  will,  I  am  certain,  set  me  right  in  that  quarter." 

"  I  may  be  unequal  to  the  task." 

"  You  can  at  least  try,  madam." 

"  I  have  tried,  Norwood.  I  have  gone  the  length  of 
declaring  that  I  disbelieved  every  story  against  you,  that 
I  reposed  the  most  implicit  faith  in  your  honor,  and  that 
I  would  certainly  receive  you  and  admit  your  visits  as 
heretofore." 

"  And,  of  course,  you'll  keep  your  word?" 

"  If  you  exact  it —  " 

"Of  course  I  shall !  Hester,  this  is  no  time  for  quibbling. 
I  've  got  into  a  mess,  the  worst  of  all  the  bad  scrapes  which 


A  "LEVANTER."  281 

have  ever  befallen  me.  A  little  time  and  a  little  manage- 
ment will  pull  me  through  —  but  I  must  have  both ;  nor  is  it 
in  such  a  place,  and  with  such  a  society  as  this,  a  man  need 
fear  investigation.  I  came  here,  as  formerly  one  went  to 
live  'within  the  rules.'  Let  me,  at  least,  have  the  benefit  of 
the  protection  for  condescending  to  the  locality." 

"  Sir  Stafford,  my  Lady,"  said  a  servant,  throwing  open 
the  door ;  and  the  old  Baronet  entered  hastily,  and,  without 
deigning  to  notice  Lord  Norwood,  walked  straight  up  to 
Lady  Hester,  and  said  a  few  words  in  a  low  voice. 

Affecting  to  occupy  himself  with  the  books  upon  the 
table,  Norwood  watched  the  dialogue  with  keen  but  stealthy 
glances,  and  then,  as  the  other  turned  suddenly  round, 
said,  — 

"  How  d'  ye  do.  Sir  Stafford?  I  am  glad  to  see  you  look- 
ing so  well." 

"I  thank  you,  my  Lord;  I  am  perfectly  well,"  said  he, 
with  a  most  repelling  coldness. 

"You  are  surprised  to  see  me  in  Florence,  for  certain," 
said  the  other,  with  a  forced  laugh. 

"Very  much  surprised  to  see  you  here^  my  Lord,"  was 
the  abrupt  reply. 

"Ha!  ha!  ha!  I  thought  so!"  cried  Norwood,  laughing, 
and  pretending  not  to  feel  the  point  of  the  remark.  "  But, 
nowadays,  one  flits  about  the  world  in  slippers  and  dress- 
ing-gown, and  travelling  inflicts  no  fatigue.  I  only  left 
England  ten  days  ago." 

"The  post  comes  in  seven,  my  Lord,"  said  Sir  Stafford. 
"  I  have  had  letters  this  morning,  written  this  day  week, 
and  which  give  the  last  events  in  Town  Life  up  to  the  very 
hour." 

' '  Indeed !  and  what 's  the  news,  then  ? "  said  he, 
negligently. 

"  If  your  Lordship  will  favor  me  with  your  company  for  a 
few  minutes,  I  may  be  able  to  enlighten  you,"  said  Sir 
Stafford,  moving  towards  the  door. 

"  With  the  greatest  pleasure.  Good-bye,  Lady  Hester," 
said  he,  rising.     "  You  said  seven  o'clock  dinner,  I  think?" 

"  Yes,"  replied  she,  but  in  a  voice  almost  inarticulate 
from  shame  and  terror. 


282  THE  DALTONS. 

"  Now,  Sir  Stafford,  I  'm  at  your  orders,"  said  the  Vis 
count,  gayly,  as  lie  left  the  room,  followed  by  the  old  mau, 
whose  crimson  cheek  and  flashing  eye  bespoke  the  passion 
which  was  struggling  within  him. 

Of  the  two  who  now  entered  Sir  Stafford's  library,  it 
must  be  owned  that  Lord  Norwood  was,  by  many  degrees, 
the  more  calm  and  collected.  No  one,  to  have  looked  at 
him,  could  possibly  have  supposed  that  any  question  of 
interest,  not  to  say  of  deep  moment,  awaited  him ;  and  as 
he  carried  his  eyes  over  the  well-filled  shelves  and  the  hand 
some  fittings  of  the  chamber,  nothing  could  be  more  nat- 
urally spoken  than  the  few  complimentary  expressions  on 
Sir  Stafford's  good  taste  and  judgment. 

"  I  shall  not  ask  you  to  be  seated,  my  Lord,"  said  the 
old  Baronet,  whose  tremulous  lip  and  shaking  cheek  showed 
how  deep-felt  was  his  agitation.  ' '  The  few  moments  of 
interview  I  have  requested  will  be,  I  have  no  doubt,  too 
painful  to  either  of  us,  nor  could  we  desire  to  prolong  them. 
To  me,  I  own,  they  are  very,  very  painful." 

These  hurried,  broken,  and  unconnected  sentences  fell 
from  him  as  he  searched  for  a  letter  among  a  number  of 
others  that  littered  the  table. 

Lord  Norwood  bowed  coldly,  and,  without  making  any 
reply,  turned  his  back  to  the  fire,  and  waited  in  patience. 

"I  have,  I  fear,  mislaid  the  letter,"  said  Sir  Stafford, 
whose  nervous  anxiety  had  now  so  completely  mastered 
him  that  he  threw  the  letters  and  papers  on  every  side 
without  perceiving  it. 

The  Viscount  made  no  sign,  but  suffered  the  search  to 
proceed  without  remark. 

"  It  was  a  letter  from  Lord  Effingdale,"  continued  the 
Baronet,  still  busied  in  the  pursuit,  —  "a  letter  written  after 
the  Newmarket  settling,  my  Lord ;  and  if  I  should  be 
unfortunate  enough  not  to  find  it,  I  must  only  trust  to  my 
memory  for  its  contents." 

Lord  Norwood  gave  another  bow,  slighter  and  colder  than 
the  former,  as  though  to  say  that  he  acquiesced  perfectly, 
without  knowing  in  what. 

"  Ah!  here  it  is!  here  it  is!  "  cried  Sir  Stafford,  at  last 
detecting   the  missing  document,  which  he  hastily  opened 


A  "LEVANTER."  283 

and  ran  his  eyes  over.  "This  letter,  my  Lord,"  continued 
he,  "  announces  that,  in  consequence  of  certain  defalca- 
tions on  your  part,  the  members  of  the  '  Whip  Club '  have 
erased  your  Lordship's  name  from  their  list,  and  declared 
you  incapacitated  from  either  entering  a  horse,  or  naming  a 
winner  for  the  stakes  in  future.  There,  there,  my  Lord,  is 
the  paragraph,  coupled  with  what  you  will  doubtless  feel  to 
be  a  very  severe  but  just  comment  on  the  transaction." 

Norwood  took  the  letter  and  read  it  leisurely,  —  as  lei- 
surely and  calmly  as  though  the  contents  never  concerned 
him,  and  then,  folding  it  up,  laid  it  on  the  chimney-piece 
beside  him. 

"  Poor  Efflngdale !  "  said  he,  smiling;  "  he  ought  to  spell 
better,  considering  that  his  mother  was  a  governess.  He 
writes  '  naming '  with  an  '  e.'     Did  n't  you  remark  that  ?  " 

But  as  Sir  Stafford  paid  no  attention  to  the  criticism,  he 
went  on :  — 

"As  to  the  'Whip,'  I  may  as  well  tell  you,  that  I 
scratched  my  own  name  myself.  They  are  a  set  of  low 
'  Legs,'  and,  except  poor  Effy,  and  two  or  three  others  of 
the  same  brilliant  stamp,  not  a  gentleman  amongst  them." 

"  The  defalcation  is,  however,  true?  "  asked  Sir  Stafford. 

"  If  you  mean  to  ask  whether  a  man  always  wins  at 
Doncaster  or  Newmarket,  the  question  is  of  the  easiest  to 
answer." 

"  I  certainly  presume  that  he  always  pays  what  he  loses, 
my  Lord,"  replied  Sir  Stafford,  coloring  at  the  evasive 
impertinence  of  the  other. 

"Of  course  he  does,  when  he  has  it.  Sir  Stafford;  but 
that  is  a  most  essential  condition,  for  the  '  Turf '  is  not 
precisely  like  a  mercantile  pursuit." 

Sir  Stafford  winced  under  the  flippant  insolence  with 
which  this  was  spoken. 

' '  There  is  not  exactly  a  fair  way  to  calculate  profit,  nor 
any  assurance  against  accidental  loss.  A  horse.  Sir  Staf- 
ford, is  not  an  Indiaman ;  a  betting  man  is,  therefore,  in  a 
position  quite  exceptional." 

"  If  a  man  risks  what  he  cannot  pay,  he  is  dishonor- 
able," said  Sir  Stafford,  in  a  short,  abrupt  tone. 

"  I  see  that  you  cannot  enter  into  a.  theme  so  very  dif- 


284  THE   DALTONS. 

ferent  from  all  your  habits  and  pursuits.  You  think  there 
is  a  kind  of  bankruptcy  when  a  man  gets  a  little  behind 
with  his  bets.  You  don't  see  that  all  these  transactions  are 
on  '  honor,'  and  that  if  one  does  '  bolt,'  he  means  to  '  book 
up'  another  time.     There  was  George,  your  own  son  —  " 

"What  of  him?  — what  of  George?"  cried  Sir  Stafford, 
with  a  convulsive  grasp  of  the  chair,  while  the  color  fled 
from  his  cheek,  and  he  seemed  ready  to  faint  with  emotion. 

"Oh,  nothing  in  the  world  to  cause  you  uneasiness.  A 
more  honorable  fellow  never  breathed  than  George." 

"  Then,  what  of  him?  How  comes  his  name  to  your  lips 
at  such  a  discussion  as  this?  Tell  me,  this  instant,  my 
Lord.     I  command  —  I  entreat  you  !  " 

And  the  old  man  shook  like  one  in  an  ague ;  but  Norwood 
saw  his  vantage-ground,  and  determined  to  use  it  unspar- 
ingly.    He  therefore  merely  smiled,  and  said,  — 

"  Pray  be  calm,  Sir  Stafford.  I  repeat  that  there  is 
nothing  worthy  of  a  moment's  chagrin.  I  was  only  about 
to  observe  that  if  I  had  the  same  taste  for  scandal- writing 
as  poor  Efify,  I  might  have  circulated  a  similar  story  about 
your  son  George.  He  left  England,  owing  me  a  good 
round  sum,  for  which,  by  the  way,  I  was  terribly  '  hard 
up ;  '  and  although  the  money  was  paid  eventually,  what 
would  you  have  thought  of  me  —  what  would  the  world  have 
thought  of  him,  —  if  I  had  written  such  an  epistle  as  this?  " 

And  as  he  spoke,  his  voice  and  manner  warmed  into  a 
degree  of  indignant  anger,  in  which,  as  if  carried  away,  he 
snatched  the  letter  from  the  chimney-piece  and  threw  it 
into  the  fire.  The  act  was  unseen  by  Sir  Stafford,  who  sat 
with  his  head  deeply  buried  between  his  hands,  a  low  faint 
groan  alone  bespeaking  the  secret  agony  of  his  heart. 

"My  son  has,  then,  paid  you?  He  owes  nothing,  my 
Lord  ? "  said  he,  at  last,  looking  up,  with  a  countenance 
furrowed  by  agitation. 

"  Like  a  trump!  "  said  Norwood,  assuming  the  most  easy 
and  self-satisfied  manner.  "  My  life  upon  George  Onslow  ! 
Back  him  to  any  amount,  and  against  the  field  anywhere ! 
A  true  John  Bull !  —  no  humbug,  no  nonsense  about  him ! 
straightforward  and  honorable,  always !  " 

"  Your  position  is,  then,  this,  my  Lord,"  said  Sir  Stafford, 


A  "LEVANTER."  285 

whose  impatience  would  not  permit  him  to  listen  longer,  — 
"  you  have  quitted  Eugland,  leaving  for  future  settlement 
a  number  of  debts,  for  which  you  have  not  the  remotest 
prospect  of  liquidation." 

"  Too  fast, —  you  go  too  fast !  "  said  the  Viscount,  laughing. 

"Lord  P^tflngdale  writes  the  amount  at  thirty  thousand 
pounds,  and  adds  that,  as  a  defaulter  —  " 

"There's  the  whole  of  it,"  broke  in  Norwood.  "You 
ring  the  changes  about  that  one  confounded  word,  and 
there  is  no  use  in  attempting  a  vindication.  '  Give  a  dog 
a  bad  name,'  as  the  adage  says.  Now,  I  took  the  trouble 
this  very  morning  to  go  over  the  whole  of  this  tiresome 
business  with  George.  I  explained  to  him  fully,  acd,  I 
hope,  to  his  entire  satisfaction,  that  I  was  simply  unfor- 
tunate in  it,  —  nothing  more.  A  man  cannot  alwa^'s  '  ride 
the  winner ; '  I  'm  sure  I  wish  /  could.  Of  course,  I  don't 
mean  to  say  that  it 's  not  a  confounded  '  bore '  to  come 
out  here  and  live  in  such  a  place  as  this,  and  just  at  the 
opening  of  the  season,  too,  when  town  is  beginning  to  fill ; 
but  '  needs  must,'  we  are  told,  '  when  a  certain  gent  sits  on 
the  coach-box.'  " 

Sir  Stafford  stood,  during  the  whole  of  this  speech,  with 
his  arms  folded  and  his  eyes  fixed  upon  the  floor.  He 
never  heard  one  word  of  it,  but  was  deeply  intent  upon  his 
own  thoughts.  At  length  he  spoke  in  a  full,  collected,  and 
firm  voice:  "Lord  Norwood  —  I  am,  as  you  have  told  me, 
perfectly  unfitted  to  pronounce  upon  transactions  so  very 
unlike  every  pursuit  in  which  my  life  lias  been  passed.  I 
am  alike  ignorant  of  the  feelings  of  those  who  engage  in 
them,  and  of  the  rules  of  honor  by  which  thej^  are  guided ; 
but  this  I  know,  that  the  man  whom  his  equals  decline  to 
associate  with  at  home  is  not  recognizable  abroad  ;  and  that 
he  who  leaves  his  country  with  shame,  cannot  reside  away 
from  it  with  credit." 

"  This  would  be  a  very  rude  speech.  Sir  Stafford  Onslow, 
even  with  the  palliative  preface  of  your  ignorance,  if  our 
relative  ages  admitted  any  equality  between  us.  I  am  the 
least  bellicose  of  men,  — I  believe  I  can  say  I  may  afford  to 
be  so.  So  long,  therefore,  as  you  confine  such  sentiments 
to  yourself,  I  will  never  complain  of  them ;  but  if  the  time 


286  THE  DALTONS. 

comes  that  you  conceive  they  should  be  issued  for  general 
circulation  —  " 

♦'  Well,  my  Lord,  what  then?  " 

"  Your  son  must  answer  for  it,  — that's  all !  "  said  Nor- 
wood ;  and  he  drew  himself  up,  and  fixed  his  eye  steadily 
on  the  distant  wall  of  the  room,  with  a  look  and  gesture 
that  made  the  old  man  sick  at  heart.  Norwood  saw  how 
"his  shot  told,"  and,  turning  hastily  round,  said:  "This 
interview,  I  conclude,  has  lasted  quite  long  enough  for 
either  of  us.  If  you  have  any  further  explanations  to  seek 
for,  let  them  come  through  a  younger  man,  and  in  a  more 
regular  form.     Good-morning." 

Sir  Stafford  bowed,  without  speaking,  as  the  other  passed 
out. 

To  have  seen  them  both  at  that  moment,  few  would  have 
guessed  aright  on  which  side  lay  all  the  disgrace,  and  where 
the  spirit  of  rectitude  and  honor. 

Sir  Stafford,  indeed,  was  most  miserable.  If  the  Vis- 
count's mock  explanations  did  not  satisfy  a  single  scruple  of 
his  mind,  was  it  not  possible  they  might  have  sufficed  with 
others  more  conversant  with  such  matters?  Perhaps  he  is 
not  worse  than  others  of  his  own  class.  What  would  be  his 
feelings  if  he  were  to  involve  George  in  a  quarrel  for  such 
a  cause?  This  was  a  consideration  that  pressed  itself  in 
twenty  different  forms,  each  of  them  enough  to  appall  him. 
"But  the  man  is  a  defaulter;  he  has  fled  from  England 
with  *  shame,' "  was  the  stubborn  conviction  which  no  efforts 
of  his  casuistry  could  banish ;  and  the  more  he  reflected  on 
this,  the  less  possible  seemed  anything  like  evasion  or 
compromise. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

"the  end  op  the  first  act." 

The  point  discussed  in  our  last  chapter,  if  not  a  momentous 
one  in  itself,  was  destined  to  exercise  a  very  important  in- 
fluence upon  the  fortunes  of  the  Onslow  family.  The  inter- 
view between  Sir  Stafford  and  the  Viscount  scarcely  occupied 
five  minutes ;  after  which  the  Baronet  wrote  a  note  of  some 
length  to  her  Ladyship,  to  which  she  as  promptly  replied ;  a 
second,  and  even  a  third  interchange  of  correspondence 
followed.  The  dinner-party  appointed  for  that  day  was  put 
off ;  a  certain  ominous  kind  of  silence  pervaded  the  house. 
The  few  privileged  visitors  were  denied  admission.  Mr. 
Proctor,  Sir  Stafford's  man,  wore  a  look  of  more  than  com- 
mon seriousness.  Mademoiselle  Celestine's  glances  revealed 
a  haughty  sense  of  triumph.  Even  the  humbler  menials 
appeared  to  feel  that  something  had  occurred,  and  betrayed 
in  their  anxious  faces  some  resemblance  to  that  vague  sense 
of  half-curiosity,  half-terror,  the  passengers  of  a  steamboat 
experience  when  an  accident,  of  whose  nature  they  know 
nothing,  has  occurred  to  the  machinery. 

Their  doubts  and  suspicions  assumed  more  shape  when 
the  order  came  that  Sir  Stafford  would  dine  in  the  library, 
and  her  Ladyship  in  her  own  room,  George  Onslow  alone 
appearing  in  the  dining-room.  There  was  an  air  of  melan- 
choly over  everything,  the  silence  deepening  as  night  came 
on.  Servants  went  noiselessly  to  and  fro,  drew  the  curtains, 
and  closed  the  doors  with  a  half-stealthy  gesture,  and 
seemed  as  though  fearful  of  awakening  some  slumbering 
outbreak  of  passion. 

We  neither  have,  nor  desire  to  have,  secrets  from  our 
readers.  "We  will  therefore  proceed  to  Sir  Stafford's  dress- 
ing-room, where  the  old  Baronet  sat  moodily  over  the  fire, 
his  anxious  features  and  sorrow-struck  expression  showing 


288  THE   DALTONS. 

the  ravages  even  a  few  hours  of  suffering  had  inflicted. 
His  table  was  littered  with  papers,  parchments,  and  other 
formidable-looking  documents.  Some  letters  lay  sealed 
here,  others  were  half-written  there;  everything  about  him 
showed  the  conflict  of  doubt  and  indecision  that  was  going 
on  within  his  mind ;  and  truly  a  most  painful  struggle  was 
maintained  there. 

For  some  time  back  he  had  seen  with  displeasure  the 
course  of  extravagance  and  waste  of  all  his  household.  He 
had  observed  the  habits  of  reckless  expense  with  which  his 
establishment  was  maintained;  but,  possessing  a  very 
ample  fortune,  and  feeling  that  probably  some  change 
would  be  made  with  the  coming  summer,  he  had  forborne 
to  advert  to  it,  and  endured  with  what  patience  he  could  a 
mode  of  life  whose  very  display  was  distasteful  to  him. 
Now,  however,  a  more  serious  cause  for  anxiety  presented 
itself,  in  the  class  of  intimates  admitted  by  Lady  Hester  to 
her  society.  Of  the  foreigners  he  knew  comparatively  little; 
but  that  little  was  not  to  their  advantage.  Some  were 
wealthy  voluptuaries,  glad  to  propagate  their  own  habits 
of  extravagance  among  those  they  suspected  of  fortunes 
smaller  than  their  own.  Others  were  penniless  adventurers, 
speculating  upon  everything  that  might  turn  to  their  profit. 
All  were  men  of  pleasure,  and  of  that  indolent,  lounging, 
purposeless-  character  so  peculiarly  unpleasing  to  those 
who  have  led  active  lives,  and  been  always  immersed  in  the 
cares  and  interests  of  business. 

Such  men,  he  rightly  judged,  were  dangerous  associates 
to  his  son,  the  very  worst  acquaintances  for  Kate,  in  whom 
already  he  was  deeply  interested;  but  still  no  actual  stain 
of  dishonor,  no  palpable  flaw,  could  be  detected  in  their 
fame,  till  the  arrival  of  Lord  Norwood  added  his  name  to 
the  list. 

To  receive  a  man  of  whose  misconduct  in  England  he  had 
acquired  every  proof,  was  a  step  beyond  his  endurance. 
Here  or  never  must  he  take  his  stand;  and  manfully  he  did 
so, —  at  first,  by  calm  argument  and  remonstrance,  and  at 
last  by  firm  resolution  and  determination.  Without  advert- 
ing to  what  had  passed  between  the  Viscount  and  himself, 
the  letter  he  addressed  to  Lady  Hester  conveyed  his  unal- 


"THE  END  OF  THE  FIRST  ACT."  289 

terable  resolve  not  to  know  Lord  Norwood.  Lady  Hester's 
reply  was  not  less  peremptory,  and  scarcely  as  courteous. 
The  correspondence  continued  with  increasing  warmth  on 
both  sides,  till  Sir  Stafford  palpably  hinted  at  the  possible 
consequences  of  a  spirit  of  discordance  and  disagreement 
so  ill-adapted  to  conjugal  welfare.  Her  Ladyship  caught 
up  the  suggestion  with  avidity,  and  professed  that,  what- 
ever scruples  his  delicacy  might  feel,  to  hers  there  was 
none  in  writing  the  word,  "Separation." 

If  the  thought  had  already  familiarized  itself  to  his  mind, 
the  word  had  not;  and  strange  it  is  that  the  written 
syllables  should  have  a  power  and  meaning  that  the  idea 
itself  could  never  realize. 

To  men  who  have  had  little  publicity  in  their  lives,  and 
that  little  always  of  an  honorable  nature,  there  is  no 
thought  so  poignantly  miserable  as  the  dread  of  a  scan- 
dalous notoriety.  To  associate  their  names  with  anything 
that  ministers  to  gossip;  to  make  them  tea-table  talk;  still 
worse,  to  expose  them  to  sneering  and  impertinent  criti- 
cisms, by  revealing  the  secrets  of  their  domesticity,  —  is  a 
torture  to  which  no  mere  physical  suffering  has  anything  to 
compare.  Sir  Stafford  Onslow  was  a  true  representative  of 
this  class  of  feeling.  The  sight  of  his  name  in  the  list  of 
directors  of  some  great  enterprise,  as  the  patron  of  a 
charity,  the  governor  of  an  hospital,  or  the  donor  to  an  insti- 
tution, was  about  as  much  of  newspaper  notoriety  as  he 
could  bear  without  a  sense  of  shrinking  delicacy;  but  to 
become  the  mark  for  public  discussion  in  the  relations  of 
his  private  life,  to  have  himself  and  his  family  brought  up 
to  the  bar  of  that  terrible  ordeal,  where  bad  tongues  are 
the  eloquent,  and  evil  speakers  are  the  witty,  was  a  specu- 
lation too  terrible  to  think  over;  and  this  was  exactly  what 
Lady  Hester  was  suggesting ! 

Is  it  not  very  strange  that  woman,  with  whose  nature  we  . 
inseparably  and  truly  associate  all  those  virtues  that  take 
their  origin  in  refinement  and  modesty,  should  sometimes 
be  able  to  brave  a  degree  of  publicity  to  which  a  man,  the 
very  hardiest  and  least  shamefaced,  would  succumb,  crest- 
fallen and  abashed;  that  her  timid  delicacy,  her  shrinking 
bashfulness,  can  be  so  hardened  by  the  world  that  she  can 

VOL.  I.  — 19 


290  THE  DALTONS. 

face  a  notoriety  where  every  look  is  an  indictment,  and 
every  whisper  a  condemnation? 

Now,  if  Lady  Hester  was  yet  remote  from  this,  she  had 
still  journeyed  one  stage  of  the  road.  She  had  abundant 
examples  around  her  of  those  best  received  and  best  looked 
on  in  society,  whose  chief  claim  to  the  world's  esteem 
seemed  to  be  the  contempt  with  which  they  treated  all  its 
ordinances.  There  was  a  dash  of  heroism  in  their  effron- 
tery that  pleased  her.  They  appeared  more  gay,  more 
buoyant,  more  elastic  in  spirits  than  other  people;  their 
increased  liberty  seemed  to  impart  enlarged  and  more  gen- 
erous views,  and  they  were  always  "good-natured,"  since, 
living  in  the  vei'y  glassiest  of  houses,  they  never  "shied  '* 
a  pebble. 

While,  then.  Sir  Stafford  sat  overwhelmed  with  shame  and 
sorrow  at  the  bare  thought  of  the  public  discussion  that 
awaited  him.  Lady  Hester  was  speculating  upon  condo- 
lences here,  approbation  there,  panegyrics  upon  her  high 
spirit,  and  congratulations  upon  her  freedom.  The  little, 
half-shadowy  allusions  her  friends  would  throw  out  from 
time  to  time  upon  the  strange  unsuitableness  of  her  mar- 
riage with  a  man  so  much  her  senior,  would  soon  be  con- 
verted into  comments  of  unrestricted  license.  Besides  — 
and  perhaps  the  greatest  charm  of  all  was  —  she  would 
have  a  grievance;  not  the  worn-out  grievance  of  some 
imaginary  ailment  that  nobody  believes  in  but  the  "doc- 
tor,"—  not  the  mock  agonies  of  a  heart  complaint,  that 
saves  the  sufferer  from  eating  bad  dinners  in  vulgar  com- 
pany, but  always  allows  them  a  respite  for  a  dejeuner  at  the 
court,  or  a  supper  after  the  Opera,  with  a  few  chosen 
convives,  —  but  a  real,  substantial  grievance,  over  which 
men  might  be  eloquent  and  ladies  pathetic.  Such  were 
the  different  feelings  with  which  two  persons  contemplated 
the  same  event.  Sir  Stafford's  thoughts  turned  instantly 
towards  England.  What  would  be  said  there  by  all  those 
friends  who  had  endeavored  to  dissuade  him  from  this  ill- 
suited  union?  Their  sorrowful  compassion  was  even  less 
endurable  than  the  malice  of  others ;  and  Grounsell,  too,  — 
what  would  his  old  friend  think  of  a  catastrophe  so  sudden? 
In  his   heart   Sir   Stafford   was   glad   that  the  doctor  was 


"THE   END   OF  THE   FIRST  ACT."  291 

absent;  much  as  he  needed  his  counsel  and  advice,  he 
still  more  dreaded  the  terror  of  his  triumphant  eye  at  the 
accomplishment  of  his  oft-repeated  prediction. 

From  George  he  met  no  support  whatever.  He  either 
believed,  or  thought  that  he  believed,  Norwood's  garbled 
explanation.  Intercourse  with  a  certain  set  of  "fast  men  " 
had  shown  him  that  a  man  might  do  a  "screwy  "  thinw  now 
and  then,  and  yet  not  be  cut  by  his  acquaintance.  And  the 
young  Guardsman  deemed  his  father's  rigid  notions  nothing 
but  prejudices,  —  very  excellent  and  commendable  ones,  no 
doubt,  but  as  inapplicable  to  our  present  civilization  as 
would  be  a  coat  of  mail  or  a  back-piece  of  chain-armor. 
George  Onslow,  therefore,  halted  between  the  two  opinions. 
Adhering  to  his  father's  side  from  feelings  of  affection  and 
respect,  he  was  drawn  to  Lady  Hester's  by  his  convictions; 
not,  indeed,  aware  how  formidable  the  difference  had  already 
become  between  them,  and  that,  before  that  very  night 
closed  in,  they  had  mutually  agreed  upon  a  separation, 
which  while  occupying  the  same  house,  was  essentially  to 
exclude  all  intercourse. 

One  consideration  gave  Sir  Stafford  much  painful  thought. 
What  was  to  become  of  Kate  Dalton  in  this  new  turn  of 
affairs?  The  position  of  a  young  girl  on  a  visit  with  a 
family  living  in  apparent  unity  and  happiness  was  very 
wide  apart  from  her  situation  as  the  companion  of  a 
woman  separated,  even  thus  much,  from  her  husband.  It 
would  be  equally  unfair  to  her  own  family,  as  unjust  to  the 
girl  herself,  to  detain  her  then  in  such  a  conjuncture.  And 
yet  what  was  to  be  done?  Apart  from  all  the  unpleasant- 
ness of  proposing  an  abrupt  return  to  her  home,  came  the 
thought  of  the  avowal  that  must  accompany  the  suggestion, 
—  the  very  confession  he  so  dreaded  to  make.  Of  course 
the  gossiping  of  servants  would  soon  circulate  the  rumor. 
But  then  they  might  not  spread  it  beyond  the  Alps,  nor 
make  it  the  current  talk  of  a  German  watering-place.  Thus 
were  his  selfish  feelings  at  war  with  higher  and  purer 
thoughts.  But  the  struggle  was  not  a  long  one.  He  sat 
down  and  wrote  to  Lady  Hester.  Naturally  assuming  that 
all  the  reasons  which  had  such  force  for  himself  would 
weigh  equally  with  her,  he  dwelt  less  upon  the  arguments 


292  THE  DALTONS. 

for  Kate's  departure  than  upon  the  mode  in  which  it  might 
be  proposed  and  carried  out.  He  adverted  with  feeling  to 
the  sacrifice  the  loss  would  inflict  upon  Lady  Hester,  but 
professed  his  conviction  in  the  belief  that  all  merely  selfish 
considerations  would  give  way  before  higher  and  more 
important  duties. 

"As  it  is,"  said  he,  "I  fear  much  that  we  have  done  any- 
thing but  conduce  to  this  dear  girl's  welfare  and  happiness. 
We  have  shown  her  glimpses  of  a  life  whose  emptiness  she 
cannot  appreciate,  but  by  whose  glitter  she  is  already 
attracted.  We  have  exposed  her  to  all  the  seductions  of 
flattery,  pampering  a  vanity  which  is  perhaps  her  one  only 
failing.  We  have  doubtless  suggested  to  her  imagination 
dreams  of  a  future  never  to  be  realized,  and  we  must  now 
consign  her  to  a  home  where  all  the  affections  of  fond 
relatives  will  be  unequal  to  the  task  of  blinding  her  to  its 
poverty  and  its  obscurity.  And  yet  even  this  is  better  than 
to  detain  her  here.  It  shall  be  my  care  to  see  in  what  way 
I  can  —  I  was  about  to  write  '  recompense ; '  nor  would  the 
word  be  unsuitable  —  recompense  Mr.  Dalton  for  the  injury 
we  have  done  him  as  regards  his  child;  and  if  you  have 
any  suggestion  to  make  me  on  this  head,  I  will  gladly 
accept  it." 

The  note  concluded  with  some  hints  as  to  the  manner  of 
making  the  communication  to  Kate,  the  whole  awkwardness 
of  which  Sir  Stafford,  if  need  were,  would  take  upon 
himself. 

The  whole  temper  of  the  letter  was  feeling  and  tender. 
Without  even  in  the  most  remote  way  adverting  to  what 
had  occurred  between  Lady  Hester  and  himself,  he  spoke  of 
their  separation  simply  in  its  relation  to  Kate  Dalton,  for 
whom  they  were  both  bound  to  think  and  act  with  caution. 
As  if  concentrating  every  thought  upon  Aer,  he  did  not 
suffer  any  other  consideration  to  interfere.  Kate,  and 
Kate  only,  was  all  its  theme. 

Lady  Hester,  however,  read  the  lines  in  a  very  different 
spirit.  She  had  just  recovered  from  a  mesmeric  ti'ance,  into 
which,  to  calm  her  nervous  exaltation,  her  physician.  Dr. 
Buccellini,  had  thrown  her.  She  had  been  lying  in  a  state 
of   half-hysterical   apathy  for  some   hours, — all  volition, 


"THE   END  OF   THE  FIRST  ACT." 


293 


almost  all  vitality,  suspended,  under  the  influence  of  an 
exaggerated  credulity,  —  when  the  letter  was  laid  upon  the 
table. 

"What  is  that  your  maid  has  just  left  out  of  her  hand?  " 
asked  the  doctor,  in  a  tone  of  semi-imperiousness. 


"A  letter,  — a  sealed  letter,"  replied  she,  mystically  wav- 
ing her  hand  before  her  half-closed  eyes. 

The  doctor  gave  a  look  of  triumph  at  the  bystanders,  and 
went  on:  — 

"  Has  the  letter  come  from  a  distant  country,  or  from  a 
correspondent  near  at  hand?" 

"Near!"  said  she,  with  a  shudder. 


294  THE  DALTONS. 

"Where  is  the  writer  at  this  moment?  "  asked  he. 

"In  the  house,"  said  she,  with  another  and  more  violent 
shuddering. 

"I  now  take  the  letter  in  my  hand,"  said  the  doctor, 
"and  what  am  I  looking  at?  " 

"A  seal  with  two  griffins  supporting  a  spur." 

The  doctor  showed  the  letter  on  every  side,  with  a  proud 
and  commanding  gesture.  "There  is  a  name  written  in  the 
corner  of  the  letter,  beneath  the  address.  Do  you  know 
that  name?" 

A  heavy,  thick  sob  was  the  reply. 

"There  —  there  —  be  calm,  be  still,"  said  he,  majestically 
motioning  with  both  hands  towards  her;  and  she  immedi- 
ately became  composed  and  tranquil.  "Are  the  contents  of 
this  letter  such  as  will  give  you  pleasure  ?  " 

A  shake  of  the  head  was  the  answer. 

"Are  they  painful?  " 

"Very  painful,"  said  she,  pressing  her  hand  to  her 
temples. 

"Will  these  tidings  be  productive  of  grand  conse- 
quences ?  " 

"Yes,  yes!"  cried  she,  eagerly. 

"What  will  you  do,  when  you  read  them?" 

"Act!  "  ejaculated  she,  solemnly. 

"In  compliance  with  the  spirit,  or  in  rejection?  " 

"Rejection!" 

"Sleep  on,  — sleep  on,"  said  the  doctor,  with  a  wave  of 
his  hand;  and,  as  he  spoke,  her  head  drooped,  her  arm  fell 
listlessly  down,  and  her  long  and  heavy  breathing  denoted 
deep  slumber.  "There  are  people.  Miss  Dalton,"  said  he 
to  Kate,  "who  affect  to  see  nothing  in  mesmerism  but 
deception  and  trick,  whose  philosophy  teaches  them  to  dis- 
credit all  that  they  cannot  comprehend.  I  trust  you  may 
never  be  of  this  number." 

"It  is  very  wonderful,  very  strange,"  said  she,  thought- 
fully. 

"Like  all  the  secrets  of  nature,  its  phenomena  are  above 
belief;  yet,  to  those  who  study  them  with  patience  and 
industry,  how  compatible  do  they  seem  with  the  whole  order 
and  spirit  of  creation.     The  great  system  of  vitality  being 


"THE  END  OF  THE  FIRST  ACT."  '        295 

a  grand  scheme  of  aetionary  and  reactionary  influences,  the 
centrifugal  being  in  reality  the  centripetal,  and  those  im- 
pulses we  vainly  fancy  to  be  our  own  instincts  being  the 
impressions  of  external  forces — do  you  comprehend  me?" 

"Not  perfectly;  in  part,  perhaps,"  said  she,  diffidently. 

"Even  that  is  something,"  replied  he,  with  a  bland  smile. 
"One  whose  future  fortunes  will  place  her  in  a  station  to 
exert  influence  is  an  enviable  convert  to  have  brought  to 
truth." 

"I!  "  said  she,  blushing  with  shame  and  surprise  together; 
"surely  you  mistake,  sir.  I  am  neither  born  to  rank, 
nor  like  to  attain  it." 

"Both  one  and  the  other,  young  lady,"  said  he,  solemnly; 
"high  as  your  position  will  one  day  be,  it  will  not  be  above 
the  claims  of  your  descent.  It  is  not  on  fallible  evidence 
that  I  read  the  future." 

"And  can  you  really  predict  my  fortune  in  life?  "  asked 
she,   eagerly. 

"More  certainly  than  you  would  credit  it,  when  told," 
said  he,  deliberately. 

"How  I  should  like  to  hear  it;  how  I  should  like  to 
know  —  "     She  stopped,  and  a  deep  blush  covered  her  face. 

"  And  why  should  you  not  know  that  your  dreams  will  be 
realized?"  said  he,  hastily,  as  if  speaking  from  some  irre- 
sistible impulse.  "What  more  natural  than  to  desire  a 
glance,  fleeting  though  it  be,  into  that  black  vista  where 
the  bright  lightning  of  prophecy  throws  its  momentary 
splendor?" 

"And  how  know  you  that  I  have  had  dreams?"  said  she, 
innocently. 

"I  know  of  them  but  by  their  accomplishment.  I  see 
you  not  in  the  present  or  the  past,  but  in  the  future.  There 
your  image  is  revealed  to  me,  and  surrounded  by  a  splendor 
I  cannot  describe.  It  is  gorgeous  and  barbaric  in  magnifi- 
cence; there  is  something  feudal  in  the  state  by  which 
you  are  encompassed  that  almost  speaks  of  another  age." 

"This  is  mere  dreamland,  indeed,"  said  she,  laughing. 

"Nay,  not  so;  nor  is  it  all  bright  and  glorious,  as  you 
think.  There  are  shadows  of  many  a  dark  tint  moving 
along  the  sunlit  surface." 


296  THE  DALTONS. 

"But  how  know  you  all  this?"  asked  she,  half  incredu- 
lously. 

"As  you  slept  last  evening  in  a  mesmeric  slumber  on  that 
sofa;  but  I  will  hear  no  further  questioning.  Look  to  our 
patient  here,  and  if  that  letter  agitate  her  over-much,  let  me 
be  sent  for."  And,  with  these  words,  delivered  oracularly, 
the  doctor  left  the  room,  while  Kate  seated  herself  beside 
the  sofa  where  Lady  Hester  slept. 

It  was  late  in  the  night  when  Lady  Hester  awoke,  and 
soon  remembering  that  a  letter  had  arrived,  broke  the  seal 
and  read  it.  If  the  proposal  of  Sir  Stafford  was  in  every 
way  unacceptable,  there  was  something  which  compensated 
for  all  in  the  excitement  of  spirits  an  act  of  opposition 
was  sure  to  produce;  nor  was  it  without  a  sense  of  triumph 
that  she  read  lines  penned  in  evident  sorrow  and  depression 
of  spirit.  In  fact,  she  made  the  not  uncommon  error  of 
mistaking  sorrow  for  repentance,  and  thought  she  perceived 
in  her  husband's  tone  a  desire  to  retrace  his  steps.  It  is 
difficult  to  say  whether  such  an  amende  would  have  given 
her  pleasure;  certainly  she  would  not  have  accepted  it  with- 
out subjecting  him  to  a  term  of  probation  of  more  or  less 
length.  In  any  case,  as  regarded  Kate,  she  was  decided 
at  once  upon  a  positive  refusal ;  and  as,  with  Aer,  a  resolve 
and  a  mode  of  action  were  usually  the  work  of  the  same 
moment,  she  motioned  to  Kate  to  sit  down  beside  her  on 
the  sofa,  and  passing  her  arm  around  her,  drew  her  fondly 
towards  her. 

.  "Kate,  dearest,"  said  she,  "I  'm  sure  nothing  would 
induce  you  to  leave  me,  —  I  mean,  to  desert  and  forsake 
me." 

Kate  pressed  the  hand  she  held  in  her  own  to  her  lips  with 
fervor,  but  could  not  speak  for  emotion. 

"I  say  this,"  said  Lady  Hester,  rapidly,  "because  the 
moment  has  come  to  test  your  fidelity.  Sir  Stafford  and  I 
—  it  is  needless  to  state  how  and  by  what  means  —  have  at 
last  discovered,  what  I  fancy  the  whole  world  has  seen  for 
many  a  day,  that  we  were  totally  unsuited  to  each  other, 
in  taste,  age,  habit,  feeling,  mode  of  life,  and  thought; 
that  we  have  nothing  in  common,  neither  liking  nor  detest- 
ing the  same  things,  but  actually  at  variance  upon  every 


"THE  END  OF  THE  FIRST  ACT."  297 

possible  subject  and  person.  Of  eourseall  attempt  to  cover 
such  discrepancies  must  be  a  failure.  We  might  trump  up 
a  hollow  truce,  child,  but  it  never  could  be  an  alliance;  and 
so  we  have  thought,  —  I  'm  sure  it  is  well  that  we  have  hit 
upon  even  one  topic  for  agreement,  —  we  have  thought  that 
the  best,  indeed  the  only,  thing  we  could  do,  was  —  to 
separate." 

An  exclamation,  almost  like  an  accent  of  pain,  escaped 
Kate  at  these  words. 

"Yes,  dearest,"  resumed  Lady  Hester,  "it  was  his  own 
proposal,  made  in  the  very  coldest  imaginable  fashion;  for 
men  have  constantly  this  habit,  and  always  take  the  tone  of 
dignity  when  they  are  about  to  do  an  injustice.  All  this, 
however,  I  was  prepared  for,  and  could  suffer  without  com- 
plaint; but  he  desires  to  rob  me  of  you,  my  dear  child,  — to 
deprive  me  of  the  only  friend,  the  only  confidante  I  have 
in  the  world.  I  don't  wonder  that  you  grow  pale  and  look 
shocked  at  such  cruelty,  concealed,  as  it  is,  under  the  mask 
of  care  for  your  interests  and  regard  for  your  welfare;  and 
this  to  we,  dearest,  —  to  me,  who  feel  to  you  as  to  a  sister, 
—  a  dear,  dear  sister!  "  Here  Lady  Hester  drew  Kate  to- 
wards her,  and  kissed  her  twice,  affectionately.  "There  's 
his  letter,  my  sweet  child.  You  can  read  it;  or  better, 
indeed,  that  you  should  not,  if  you  would  preserve  any 
memory  of  your  good  opinion  of  him." 

"And  he  that  was  ever  so  kind,  so  thoughtful,  and  so 
generous!"  cried  Kate. 

"You  know  nothing  of  these  creatures,  my  dear,"  broke 
in  Lady  Hester.  "All  those  plausibilities  that  they  play 
off  in  the  world  are  little  emanations  of  their  own  selfish 
natures.  They  are  eternally  craving  admiration  from  us 
women,  and  that  is  the  true  reason  of  their  mock  kindness 
and  mock  generosity!  I  'm  sure,"  added  she,  sighing,  "?«?/ 
experience  has  cost  me  pretty  dearly!  What  a  life  of  trial 
and  privation  has  mine  been!  " 

Lady  Hester  sighed  heavily  as  her  jewelled  fingers 
pressed  to  her  eyes  a  handkerchief  worth  a  hundred 
guineas,  and  really  believed  herself  a  case  for  world-wide 
sympathy.  She  actually  did  shed  a  tear  or  two  over  her 
sorrows;  for  it  is  wonderful  on  what  slight  pretension  we 


298  THE   DALTONS. 

can  compassionate  ourselves.  She  thought  over  all  the 
story  of  her  life,  and  wept.  She  remembered  how  she  had 
been  obliged  to  refuse  the  husband  of  her  choice;  she  forgot 
to  be  grateful  for  having  escaped  a  heartless  spendthrift, 
she  remembered  her  acceptance  of  one  inferior  to  her  in 
rank,  and  many  years  her  senior;  but  forgot  his  wealth, 
his  generosity,  his  kindliness  of  nature,  and  his  high  char- 
acter. She  thought  of  herself  as  she  was  at  eighteen,  — 
the  flattered  beauty,  daughter  of  a  Peer,  courted,  sought 
after,  and  admired;  but  she  totally  forgot  what  she  was  at 
thirty,  with  faded  attractions,  unthought  of,  and,  worse  still, 
unmarried.  Of  the  credit  side  of  her  account  with  Fortune 
she  omitted  not  an  item;  the  debits  she  slurred  over  as 
unworthy  of  mention.  That  she  should  be  able  to  deceive 
herself  is  nothing  very  new  or  strange,  but  that  she  should 
succeed  in  deceiving  another  is  indeed  singular;  and  such 
was  the  case.  Kate  listened  to  her,  and  believed  every- 
thing ;  and  when  her  reason  failed  to  convince,  her  natural 
■softness  of  disposition  served  to  satisfy  her  that  a  more 
patient,  long-suffering,  unrepining  being  never  existed  than 
Lady  Hester  Onslow. 

"And  now,"  said  she,  after  a  long  peroration  of  woes, 
"can  you  leave  me  here,  alone  and  friendless?  —  will  you 
desert  me?" 

"Oh,  never,  never!"  cried  Kate,  kissing  her  hand  and 
pressing  her  to  her  heart.  "I  would  willingly  lay  down 
my  life  to  avert  this  sad  misfortune;  but,  if  that  cannot  be, 
I  will  share  your  lot  with  the  devotion  of  my  whole  heart." 

Lady  Hester  could  scarcely  avoid  smiling  at  the  poor 
girl's  simplicity,  who  really  fancied  that  separation  in- 
cluded a  life  of  seclusion  and  sorrow,  with  restricted  means 
and  an  obscure  position;  and  it  was  with  a  kind  of  subdued 
drollery  she  assured  Kate  that  even  in  her  altered  fortunes 
a  great  number  of  little  pleasures  and  comforts  would 
remain  for  them.  In  fact,  by  degrees  the  truth  came  slowly 
out,  that  the  great  change  implied  little  else  than  unre- 
strained liberty  of  action,  freedom  to  go  anywhere,  know 
any  one,  and  be  questioned  by  nobody;  the  equivocal 
character  of  the  position  adding  a  piquancy  to  the  society, 
inexpressibly  charming  to  all  those  who,  like  the  Duchesse 


"THE   END   OF  THE   FIRST  ACT."  299 

d'Abrantes,  think  it  only  necessary  for  a  thing  to  be 
"wrong"  to  make  it  perfectly  delightful. 

Having  made  a  convert  of  Kate,  Lady  Hester  briefly 
replied  to  Sir  Stafford,  that  his  proposition  was  alike  repug- 
nant to  Miss  Dalton  as  to  herself,  —  that  she  regretted  the 
want  of  consideration  on  his  part,  which  could  have  led 
him  to  desire  that  she  should  be  friendless  at  a  time  when 
the  presence  of  a  companion  was  more  than  ever  needed. 
This  done,  she  kissed  Kate  three  or  four  times  affection- 
ately, and  retired  to  her  room,  well  satisfied  with  what 
the  day  had  brought  forth,  and  only  wishing  for  the  morrow, 
which  should  open  her  new  path  in  life. 

It  often  happens  in  life  that  we  are  never  sufficiently 
struck  with  the  force  of  our  own  opinions  or  their  conse- 
quences, till,  from  some  accident  or  other,  we  come  to 
record  them.  Then  it  is  that  the  sentiments  we  have  ex- 
pressed, and  the  lines  of  action  adopted,  suddenly  come 
forth  in  all  their  unvarnished  truth.  Like  the  images  which 
the  painter,  for  the  first  time,  commits  to  canvas,  they 
stand  out  to  challenge  a  criticism  which,  so  long  as  they 
remained  in  mere  imagination,  they  had  escaped. 

This  was  precisely  Kate  Dalton's  case  now.  Her  natural 
warm-heartedness,  and  her  fervent  sense  of  gratitude,  had 
led  her  to  adopt  Lady  Hester's  cause  as  her  own ;  gener- 
ous impulses,  carrying  reason  all  before  them,  attached 
her  to  what  she  fancied  to  be  the  weaker  side.  "The 
divinity  that  doth  hedge  "  "  beauty  "  made  her  believe  that 
so  much  loveliness  could  do  no  wrong ;  nor  was  it  till  she 
came  to  write  of  the  event  to  her  sister,  that  even  a  doubt 
crossed  her  mind  on  the  subject.  The  difficulty  of  explain- 
ing a  circumstance  of  which  she  knew  but  little,  was  enhanced 
by  her  knowledge  of  Ellen's  rigid  and  unbending  sense  of 
right.  "Poor  dear  Nelly,"  said  she,  "with  her  innocence 
of  mind,  will  understand  nothing  of  all  this,  or  she  will 
condemn  Lady  Hester  at  once.  Submission  to  her  husband 
would,  in  her  opinion,  have  been  the  first  of  duties.  She 
cannot  appreciate  motives  which  actuate  society  in  a  rank 
different  from  her  own.  In  her  ignorance  of  the  world,  too, 
she  might  deem  my  remaining  here  unadvisable ;  she  might 
counsel  my  return  to  home ;  and  thus  I  should  be  deserting, 


300  THE  DALTONS. 

forsaking,  the  dear  friend  who  has  confided  all  her  sorrows 
to  my  heart,  and  reposes  all  her  trust  in  my  fidelity.  This 
would  break  Lady  Hester's  heart  and  my  own  together ;  and 
yet  nothing  is  more  likely  than  such  a  course.  Better  a 
thousand  times  not  expose  her  friend's  cause  to  such  a 
casualty.  A  little  time  and  a  little  patience  may  place 
matters  in  a  position  more  intelligible  and  less  objection- 
able ;  and,  after  all,  the  question  is  purely  a  family  secret, 
the  divulgence  of  which,  even  to  a  sister,  is  perhaps  not 
warrantable." 

Such  were  among  the  plausibilities  with  which  she  glanced 
over  her  conduct;  without,  however,  satisfying  herself 
that  she  was  in  the  right.  She  had  only  begun  the  descent 
of  lax  morality,  and  her  head  was  addled  by  the  new  sensa- 
tion. Happy  are  they  who  even  from  weak  nerves  relinquish 
the  career ! 

Kate's  letter  home,  then,  was  full  of  gay  revelations. 
Galleries,  churches,  gardens ;  objects  of  art  or  historic 
interest;  new  pictures  of  manners,  sketches  of  society, 
abounded.  There  were  descriptions  of  fetes,  too,  and  bril- 
liant assemblies,  with  great  names  of  guests  and  gorgeous 
displays  of  splendor.  Well  and  sweetly  were  they  written  ; 
a  quick  observation  and  a  keen  insight  into  character  in 
every  line.  The  subtle  analysis  of  people  and  their  preten- 
sions, which  comes  of  mixture  with  the  world,  was  pre- 
eminent in  all  she  said ;  while  a  certain  sharp  wit  pointed 
many  of  the  remarks,  and  sparkled  in  many  a  brilliant 
passage. 

It  was  altogether  a  lively  and  a  pleasant  letter.  A 
stranger,  reading  it,  would  have  pronounced  the  writer  clever 
and  witty;  a  friend  would  have  regretted  the  want  of 
personal  details,  the  hundred  little  traits  of  egoism  that 
speak  confidence  and  trust.  But  to  a  sister!  and  such  a 
sister  as  Nelly !  it  was,  indeed,  barren !  No  outpouring 
of  warm  affection ;  no  fond  memory  of  home ;  no  reference 
to  that  little  fireside  whence  her  own  image  had  never 
departed,  and  where  her  presence  was  each  night  invoked. 

Oh !  Kate,  has  Hanserl's  dark  prophecy  thrown  its  shadow 
already  to  your  feet?  Can  a  young  heart  be  so  easily  cor- 
rupted, and  so  soon? 


CHAPTER   XXVII. 

A   SMALL    DINNER   AT   THE   VILLINO    ZOE. 

Among  the  penalties  great  folk  pay  for  their  ascendancy, 
there  is  one  most  remarkable,  and  that  is,  the  intense 
interest  taken  in  all  their  affairs  by  hundreds  of  worthy 
people  who  are  not  of  their  acquaintance.  This  feeling, 
which  transcends  every  other  known  description  of  sym- 
pathy, flourishes  in  small  communities.  In  the  capital  of 
which  we  are  now  speaking,  it  was  at  its  very  highest 
pitch  of  development.  The  Onslows  furnished  all  the 
table-talk  of  the  city ;  but  in  no  circle  were  their  merits 
so  frequently  and  ably  discussed  as  in  that  little  parlia- 
ment of  gossip  which  held  its  meetings  at  the  "  Villino 
Zoe." 

Mrs.  Ricketts,  who  was  no  common  diplomatist,  had 
done  her  utmost  to  establish  relations  of  amity  with  her 
great  neighbor.  She  had  expended  all  the  arts  of  courtesy 
and  all  the  devices  of  politeness  to  efifect  this  entente 
cordiale;  but  all  in  vain.  Her  advances  had  been  met 
with  coldness,  and  "something  more;"  her  perfumed  little 
notes,  written  in  a  style  of  euphuism  all  her  own,  had 
been  left  unanswered ;  her  presents  of  fruit  and  flowers 
unacknowledged,  —  it  is  but  fair  to  add,  that  they  never 
proceeded  further  than  the  porter's  lodge,  —  even  her  visit- 
ing-cards were  only  replied  to  by  the  stiff  courtesy  of 
cards,  left  by  Lady  Hester's  "  Chasseur;  "  so  that,  in  fact, 
failure  had  fallen  on  all  her  endeavors,  and  she  had  not 
even  attained  to  the  barren  honor  of  a  recognition  as  they 
passed  in  the  promenade. 

This  was  a  very  serious  discomfiture,  and  might,  when 
it  got  abroad,  have  sorely  damaged  the  Ricketts's  ascend- 
ancy in  that  large  circle,  who  were  accustomed  to  regard 


302  THE   DALTONS. 

her  as  the  glass  of  fashion.  Heaven  knew  what  amount  of 
insubordination  might  spring  out  of  it!  what  rebellious 
notions  might  gain  currency  and  credit!  It  was  but  the 
winter  before  when  a  Duchess,  who  passed  through,  on 
her  way  to  Rome,  asked  "who  Mrs.  llicketts  was?"  and 
the  shock  was  felt  during  the  whole  season  after.  The 
Vandyk  for  whose  authenticity  Martha  swore,  was  actually 
called  in  question.  The  "  S6vres  "  cup  she  had  herself 
painted  was  the  subject  of  a  heresy  as  astounding.  We 
live  in  an  age  of  movement  and  convulsion,  —  no  man's 
landmarks  are  safe  now,  —  and  Mrs.   Ricketts  knew  this. 

The  Onslows,  it  was  clear,  would  not  know  her;  it 
only  remained,  then,  to  show  why  she  would  not  know 
them.  It  was  a  rare  thing  to  find  a  family  settling  down 
at  Florence  against  whom  a  "true  bill"  might  not  easily 
be  found  of  previous  misconduct.  Few  left  England  with- 
out a  reason  that  might  readily  become  an  allegation. 
Bankruptcy  or  divorce  were  the  light  offences ;  the  higher 
ones  we  must  not  speak  of.  Now  the  Onslows,  as  it 
happened,  were  not  in  this  category.  Sir  Stafford's  charac- 
ter was  unimpeachable,  —  her  Ladyship's  had  nothing  more 
grave  against  it  than  the  ordinary  levities  of  her  station. 
George  "had  gone  the  pace,"  it  was  true,  but  nothing 
disreputable  attached  to  him.  There  was  no  use,  there- 
fore, in  "  trying  back "  for  a  charge,  and  Mrs.  Ricketts 
perceived  that  they  must  be  arraigned  on  the  very  vaguest 
of  evidence.  Many  a  head  has  fallen  beneath  the  guillo- 
tine for  a  suspicion,  and  many  a  heart  been  broken  on  a 
surmise ! 

A  little  dinner  at  the  Villino  opened  the  plan  of  pro- 
ceedings. It  was  a  small  auto-da-fe  of  character  at  which 
the  Onslows  were  to  be  the  victims,  while  the  grand  in- 
quisitors were  worthily  represented  by  the  Polish  Count, 
Haggerstone,  Purvis,  and  a  certain  Mr.  Foglass,  then 
passing  through  Florence  on  his  way  to  England.  This 
gentleman,  who  was  the  reputed  son  of  a  supposed  son  of 
George  the  Fourth,  was  received  as  "very  good  royalty" 
in  certain  circles  abroad,  and,  by  virtue  of  a  wig,  a 
portly  chest,  and  a  most  imposing  pomposity  of  manner, 
taken  to  be  exceedingly  like  his  grandfather,  —  just  on  the 


A   SMALL  DINNER  AT  THE   VILLINO   ZOE.  303 

same  principle  as  red  currant  jelly  makes  middling  mutton 
resemble  venison. 

To  get  rid  of  his  importunity,  a  Minister  had  made  him 
Consul  in  some  remote  village  of  the  East,  but  finding  that 
there  were  neither  fees  nor  perquisites,  Foglass  had  left  his 
post  to  besiege  the  doors  of  Downing  Street  once  more,  and 
if  rejected  as  a  suppliant,  to  become  an  admirable  grievance 
for  a  Radical  Member,  and  a  "  very  cruel  case  of  oppres- 
sion "  for  the  morning  papers. 

Foglass  was  essentially  a  "humbug;"  but,  unlike  most» 
if  not  all  other  humbugs,  without  the  smallest  ingredient  of 
any  kind  of  ability.  When  men  are  said  to  live  by  their 
wits,  their  capital  is,  generally  speaking,  a  very  sufficient  one ; 
and  that  interesting  class  of  persons  known  as  adventurers 
numbers  many  clever  talkers,  shrewd  observers,  subtle  tacti- 
cians, and  admirable  billiard-players ;  with  a  steady  hand  on 
a  pistol,  but  ready  to  "pocket"  either  an  "insult"  or  a 
"  ball/'  if  the  occasion  require  it.  None  of  these  gifts  per- 
tained to  Foglass.  He  had  not  one  of  the  qualities  which 
either  succeed  in  the  world  or  in  society,  and  yet,  strange  to 
say,  this  intolerable  bore  had  a  kind  of  popularity,  that  is  to 
say,  people  gave  him  a  vacant  place  at  their  dinners,  and 
remembered  him  at  picnics. 

His  whole  strength  lay  in  his  wig,  and  a  certain  slow^ 
measured  intonation  which  he  found  often  attracted  atten- 
tion to  what  he  said,  and  gave  his  tiresome  anecdotes  of 
John  Kemble,  Munden,  and  Mathews  the  semblance  of  a 
point  they  never  possessed.  Latterly,  however,  he  had 
grown  deaf,  and,  like  most  who  suffer  under  that  infirmity, 
taken  to  speaking  in  a  whisper  so  low  as  to  be  inaudible,  — 
a  piece  of  politeness  for  which  even  our  reader  will  be  grate- 
ful, as  it  will  spare  him  the  misery  of  his  twaddle. 

Haggerstone  and  he  were  intimates  —  were  it  not  a  profa- 
nation of  the  word,  we  should  say  friends.  They  were,  how- 
ever, always  together ;  and  Haggerstone  took  pains  to  speak 
of  his  companion  as  a  "monstrous  clever  fellow,  who  re- 
quired to  be  known  to  be  appreciated."  Jekyl  probably  dis- 
covered the  true  secret  of  the  alliance  in  the  fact  that  they 
always  talked  to  each  other  about  the  nobility,  and  never 
gave  them  their  titles,  —  an  illusory  familiarity  with  Dukes 


304  THE   DALTONS. 

and  Earls  that  appeared  to  render  them  supremely  happy. 
Richmond,  Beaufort,  Cleveland,  and  Stanley  were  in  their 
mouths  as  "household  words." 

After  all,  it  was  a  harmless  sort  of  pastime ;  and  if  these 
"Imaginary  Conversations"  gave  them  pleasure,  why  need 
we  grumble? 

We  have  scruples  about  asking  our  reader  even  to  a 
description  of  the  Ricketts's  dinner.  It  was  a  true  Barmecide 
feast.  There  was  a  very  showy  bouquet  of  flowers :  there 
was  a  lavish  display  of  what  seemed  silver ;  there  was  a  good 
deal  of  queer  china  and  impracticable  glass ;  in  short,  much 
to  look  at,  and  very  little  to  eat.  Of  this  fact  the  Pole's 
appreciation  was  like  an  instinct,  and  as  the  entrees  were 
handed  round,  all  who  came  after  him  became  soon  aware  of. 
Neither  the  wine  nor  the  dessert  were  temptations  to  a  long 
sitting,  and  the  party  soon  found  themselves  in  the  drawing- 
room. 

"Son  Excellence  is  going  to  England?"  said  the  Pole, 
addressing  Foglass,  who  had  been  announced  as  an  Ambas- 
sador; "if  you  do  see  de  Count  Ojeffskoy,  tell  him  I  am 
living  here,  as  well  as  a  poor  exile  can,  who  have  lost 
palaces,  and  horses,  and  diamonds,  and  all  de  rest." 

"Ah!  the  poor  dear  Count!"  sighed  Mrs.  Ricketts, 
while  Martha  prolonged  the  echo. 

"  You  carry  on  the  war  tolerably  well,  notwithstanding," 
said  Haggerstone,  who  knew  something  of  the  other's 
resources  in  piquet  and  ecarte. 

"  Carry  on  de  war !  "  rejoined  he,  indignantly ;  "  wid  my 
fader,  who  work  in  de  mines ;  and  my  beautiful  sisters,  who 
walk  naked  about  de  streets  of  Crakow !  " 

"  What  kind  of  climate  have  they  in  Crak-Crak-Crak  —  " 
A  fit  of  coughing  finished  a  question  which  nobody  thought 
of  answering ;  and  Purvis  sat  down,  abashed,  in  a  corner. 

"  Arthur,  my  love,"  said  Mrs.  Ricketts,  —  she  was  great 
at  a  diversion,  whenever  such  a  tactic  was  wanted,  —  "do 
you  hear  what  Colonel  Haggerstone  has  been  saying  ?  " 

"No,  deai-cst,"  muttered  the  old  General,  as  he  worked 
away  with  rule  and  compass. 

"He  tells  me,"  said  the  lady,  still  .louder,  "that  the 
Onslows  have  separated.     Not  an  open,  formal  separation, 


A  SMALL  DINNER  AT  THE  VILLINO  ZOE.         305 

but  that  they  occupy  distinct  apartments,  and  hold  no  in- 
tercourse whatever." 

"  Sir  Stafford  lives  on  the  re.z  de  chaussee,"  said  Hagger- 
stone,  who,  having  already  told  the  story  seven  times  the 
same  morning,  was  quite  perfect  in  the  recital,  —  "  Sir  Staf- 
ford lives  on  the  rez  de  chaussee,  with  a  small  door  into  the 
garden.  My  Lady  retains  the  entire  first  floor  and  the  grand 
conservatory.  Geoi'ge  has  a  small  garqon  apartment  off  the 
terrace." 

' '  Ho^Y  very  distressing !  "  sighed  Mrs.  Ricketts,  whose 
woe-worn  looks  seemed  to  imply  that  she  had  never  heard 
of  a  similar  incident  before ;  "  and  how  unlike  us,  Arthur !  " 
added  she,  with  a  smile  of  beaming  affection.  "  He  has 
ever  been  what  you  see  him,  since  the  day  he  stole  my 
young,  unsuspecting  heart." 

The  Colonel  looked  over  at  the  object  thus  designated, 
and,  by  the  grin  of  malice  on  his  features,  appeared  to  infer 
that  the  compliment  was  but  a  sorry  one,  after  all. 

"'John  Anderson  my  Jo,  John,'"  muttered  he,  half 
aloud. 

"'We've  climbed  the  hill  toge-ge-ge-ther,' "  chimed  in 
Purvis,  with  a  cackle. 

"Gather  what,  sir?  Blackberries,  was  it?"  cried  Hag- 
gerstone. 

"  Don't  quote  that  low-lived  creature,"  said  Mrs.  Ricketts ; 
"a  poet  only  conversant  with  peasants  and  their  habits. 
Let  us  talk  of  our  own  order.  What  of  these  poor 
On  slows  ?  " 

"  Sir  Stafford  dines  at  two,  madam.  A  cutlet,  a  vege- 
table, and  a  cherry  tart;  two  glasses  of  Gordon's  sherry, 
and  a  cup  of  coffee." 

"  Without  milk.  I  had  it  from  Proctor,"  broke  in  Purvis, 
who  was  bursting  with  jealousy  at  the  accuracy  of  the  other's 
narrative. 

"  You  mean  without  sugar,  sir,"  snapped  Haggerstone. 
"  Nobody  does  take  milk-coffee  after  dinner." 

"  I  always  do,"  rejoined  Purvis,  "when  I  can't  get  mara- 
mara-mara  —  " 

"  I  hope  you  can  get  maraschino  down  easier  than  you 
pronounce  it,  sir." 

VOL.  I.  —  20 


306  THE  DALTONS. 

"Be  quiet,  Scroope,"  said  his  sister;  "you  always 
interrupt." 

"  He  do  make  de  devil  of  misverstandness  wit  his  what- 
ye-eall-'em,"  added  the  Pole,  contemptuously. 

And  poor  Purvis,  rebuked  on  every  side,  was  obliged  to 
fall  back  beside  Martha  and  her  embroidery. 

"My  Lady,"  resumed  Haggerstone,  "  is  served  at  eleven 
o'clock.  The  moment  Granzini's  solo  is  over  in  the  ballet, 
an  express  is  sent  off  to  order  dinner.  The  table  is  far 
more  costly  than  Midchekoff's." 

"I   do   believe   well,"  said    the  Count,  who   always,  for 
nationality'  sake,  deemed  it  proper  to  abuse  the  Russian. 
'*  De  Midchekoff  cook  tell  me  he  have  but  ten  paoli  —  how 
you  say  —  par  tete  —  by  the  tete  —  for  his  dinner ;  dat  to 
include  every  ting,  from  the  caviar  to  de  sheeze." 

"  That  was  not  the  style  at  the  Pavilion  formerly,"  roared 
out  Haggerstone,  repeating  the  remark  in  Foglass's  ear. 

And  the  ex-consul  smiled  blandly  towards  Mrs.  Ricketts, 
and  said  "  he  'd  take  anything  to  England  for  her  with 
pleasure." 

"  He 's  worse  than  ever,"  remarked  Haggerstone,  irritably. 
"  When  people  have  a  natural  infirmity,  they  ought  to  con- 
fine themselves  to  their  own  room." 

"Particularly  when  it  is  one  of  the  tem-tem-temper," 
said  Purvis,  almost  choked  with  passion. 

"  Better  a  hasty  temper  than  an  impracticable  tongue, 
sir,"  said  Haggerstone, 

"  Be  quiet,  Scroope,"  added  Mrs.  Ricketts;  and  he  was 
still.  Then,  turning  to  the  Colonel,  she  went  on:  "How 
thankful  we  ought  to  be  that  we  never  knew  these  people ! 
They  brought  letters  to  us,  —  some,  indeed,  from  dear  and 
valued  friends.  That  sweet  Diana  Comerton,  who  mar- 
ried the  Duke  of  Ellewater,  wrote  a  most  pressing  entreaty 
that  I  should  call  upon  them." 

"  She  did  n't  marry  the  Duke ;  she  married  his  chap-chap- 
lain," chimed  in  Purvis. 

"  Will  you  be  quiet,  Scroope?"  remarked  the  lady. 

"  I  ought  to  know,"  rejoined  he,  grown  courageous  in 
the  goodness  of  his  cause.  "  He  was  Bob  Nutty.  Bitter 
Bob,  we  always  called  him  at  school.  He  had  a  kind  of  a 
poly-poly-poly  —  " 


A  SMALL  DINNER  AT  THE   VILLINO  ZOE.         307 

**A  polyanthus,"  suggested  Haggerstone. 

"  No.  It  was  a  poly-polypus  —  a  polypus,  that  made 
him  snuffle  in  his  speech." 

"  Ach  Gott !  "  sighed  the  Pole ;  but  whether  in  sorrow 
for  poor  "Bob,"  or  in  utter  weariness  at  his  historian, 
was  hard  to  say. 

"  Lady  Foxington,  too,"  said  Mrs.  Ricketts,  "  made  a 
serious  request  that  we  should  be  intimate  with  her  friend 
Lady  Hester.  She  was  candid  enough  to  say  that  her  Lady- 
ship would  not  suit  me.  '  She  has  no  soul,  Zoe,'  wrote  she, 
'  so  I  need  n't  say  more.'  " 

"  Dat  is  ver  bad,"  said  the  Pole,  gravely. 

"  Still,  I  should  have  made  her  acquaintance,  for  the 
sake  of  that  young  creature  —  Miss  Dalton,  I  think  they 
call  her  —  and  whom  I  rather  suspect  to  be  a  distant  cousin 
of  ours." 

' '  Yes ;  there  were  Dawkinses  at  Exeter  —  a  very  respect- 
able solicitor,  one  was,  Joe  Dawkins,"  came  in  Purvis; 
"and  he  used  to  say  we  were  co-co-co-connections." 

"  This  family,  sir,  is  called  Dalton,  and  not  even  a 
stutter  can  make  that  Dawkins." 

"Couldn't  your  friend  Mr.  Foglass  find  out  something 
about  these  Daltons  for  us,  as  he  goes  through  Germany?  " 
asked  Mrs.   Ricketts  of  the  Colonel. 

"No  one  could  execute  such  a  commission  better, 
madam,  only  you  must  give  him  his  instructions  in  writ- 
ing. Foglass,"  added  he,  at  the  top  of  his  voice,  "let 
me  have  your  note-book  for  a  moment." 

"  With  pleasure,"  said  he,  presenting  his  snuflf-box. 

"No;  your  memorandum-book,"  screamed  the  other, 
louder. 

"It's  gone  down,"  whispered  the  deaf  man.  "I  lost 
the  key  on  Tuesday  last." 

"  Not  your  watch,  man.  I  want  to  write  a  line  in  your 
note-book ;  "  and  he  made  a  pantomimic  of  writing. 

"Yes,  certainly;  if  Mrs.  R.  will  permit,  I'll  write  to 
her  with  pleasure." 

"Confound  him!"  muttered  Haggerstone;  and,  taking 
up  a  visiting-card,  he  wrote  on  the  back  of  it,  "  Could 
you  trace  the  Daltons  as  you  go  back  by  Baden?" 


308  THE   DALTONS. 

The  deaf  man  at  once  brightened  up ;  a  look  of  shrewd 
intelligence  lighted  up  his  fishy  eyes  as  he  said,  — 

"  Yes,  of  course;    say,  what  do  you  want?" 

"  Antecedents  —  family  —  fortune,"  wrote  Haggerstone. 

"  If  dey  have  de  tin,"  chimed  in  the  Pole. 

"If  they  be  moral  and  of  irreproachable  reputation," 
said  Mrs.  Ricketts. 

"Are  they  related  to  the  other  Dawkinses?"  asked 
Purvis.  "Let  him  ask  if  their  mother  was  not  godfather 
to  —  no,  I  mean  grandfather  —  to  the  Reverend  Jere-Jere- 
Jere  —  " 

"Be  quiet,  Scroope  —  will  you  be  quiet?" 

"There,  you  have  it  all,  now,"  said  Haggerstone,  as  he 
finished  writing;  "their  'family,  fortune,  flaws,  and  frail- 
ties' —  '  what  they  did,  and  where  they  did  it '  —  observing 
accuracy  as  to  Christian  names,  and  as  many  dates  as 
possible." 

"I'll  do  it,"  said  Foglass,  as  he  read  over  the  "in- 
struction." 

"  We  want  it  soon,  too,"  said  Mrs.  Ricketts.  "  Tell 
him  we  shall  need  the  information  at  once." 

"This  with  speed,"  wrote  Haggerstone  at  the  foot  of 
the  memorandum. 

Foglass  bowed  a  deep  assent. 

"  How  like  his  grandfather ! "  said  Mrs.  Ricketts,  in 
ecstasy. 

"I  never  knew  he  had  one,"  whispered  Haggerstone 
to  the  Pole.  "His  father  was  a  coachmaker  in  Long 
Acre." 

"Is  he  not  thought  very  like  them?  "  asked  Mrs.  Ricketts, 
with  a  sidelong  glance  of  admiration  at  the  auburn  peruke. 

"I've  heard  that  the  wig  is  authentic,  madam." 

"  He  has  soi  much  of  that  regal  urbanity  in  his  manner." 

"  If  he  is  not  the  first  gentleman  of  England,"  muttered 
Haggerstone  to  himself,  "he  is  the  first  one  in  his  own 
family,  at  least." 

"By  the  way,"  said  Mrs.  Ricketts,  hastily,  "let  him 
inquire  into  that  affair  of  Lord  Norwood." 

"No  necessity,  madam.  The  affair  is  in  'Bell's  Life,' 
with  the  significant  question,  'Where  is  he?'     But  he  can 


A   SMALL  DINNER   AT  THE   VILLINO   ZOE.  309 

learn  the  particulars,  at  all  events."  And  he  made  a  note 
in  the  book. 

"  How  dreadful  all  this,  and  how  sad  to  think  Florence 
should  be  the  resort  of  such  people !  " 

"If  it  were  not  for  rapparees  and  refugees,  madam, 
house-rent  would  be  very  inexpensive,"  said  the  Colonel, 
in  a  subdued  voice;  while,  turning  to  the  Pole,  he  added, 
"and  if  respectability  is  to  be  always  a  caricature,  I'd  as 
soon  have  its  opposite.  I  suppose  you  do  not  admit  the 
Viscount,  madam?" 

"  He  has  not  ventured  to  present  himself,"  said  Mrs. 
Ricketts,  proudly.  "  I  hope  that  there  is,  at  least,  one 
sanctuary  where  virtue  can  live  unmolested."  And,  as  she 
spoke,  she  looked  over  at  Martha,  who  was  working  away 
patiently ;  but  whether  happy  in  the  exclusive  tariff  afore- 
said, or  somewhat  tired  of  "protection,"  we  are  unable  to 
say. 

"  What  has  he  do?"  asked  the  Count. 

"He  has  done  the  'ring'  all  round,  I  believe,"  said 
Haggerstone,  chuckling  at  a  joke  which  he  alone  could 
appreciate. 

"  Dey  do  talk  of  play  in  England !  "  said  the  Pole,  con- 
temptuously. "  Dey  never  do  play  high,  wit  Tiere  leetle  — 
how  do  you  call  'em?  —  bets,  of  tree,  four  guinea,  at  ecarte. 
But  in  Polen  we  have  two,  tree,  five  tousand  crowns  on  each 
card.  Dere,  crack !  you  lose  a  fortune,  or  I  do  win  one ! 
One  evening  at  Garowidsky's  I  do  lose  one  estate  of  seven- 
teen million  florins,  but  I  no  care  noting  for  all  dat !  I  was 
ver  rich,  wit  my  palaces  and  de  mayorat  —  how  you  call 
dat?" 

Before  this  question  could  be  answered,  the  servant  threw 
open  the  double  door  of  the  salon,  and  announced,  "  Milordo 
Norwood  !  "  A  shell  might  have  burst  in  the  apartment  and 
not  created  much  more  confusion.  Mrs.  Ricketts  gave  a 
look  at  Martha,  as  though  to  assure  herself  that  she  was  in 
safety.  Poor  Martha's  own  fingers  trembled  as  she  bent 
over  her  frame.  Haggerstone  buttoned  up  his  coat  and 
arranged  his  cravat  with  the  air  of  a  man  so  consummate  a 
tactician  that  he  could  actually  roll  himself  in  pitch  and  yet 
never  catch  the  odor ;  while  Purvis,  whose  dread  of  a  duel- 


310  THE  DALTONS. 

list  exceeded  his  fear  of  a  mad  dog,  ensconced  himself 
behind  a  stand  of  geraniums,  where  he  resolved  to  live  in  a 
state  of  retirement  until  the  terrible  Viscount  had  withdrawn. 
As  for  the  Count,  a  preparatory  touch  at  his  moustache,  and 
a  slight  arrangement  of  his  hair,  sufficed  him  to  meet  any- 
thing ;  and  as  these  were  the  ordinary  details  of  his  daily 
toilet,  he  performed  them  with  a  rapidity  quite  instinctive. 

To  present  oneself  in  a  room  where  one's  appearance  is 
unacceptable  is,  perhaps,  no  slight  test  of  tact,  manner,  and 
effrontery ;  to  be  actually  indifferent  to  the  feelings  around 
is  to  be  insensible  to  the  danger ;  to  see  the  peril,  and  yet 
appear  not  to  notice  it,  constitutes  the  true  line  of  action. 
Lord  Norwood  was  perfect  in  this  piece  of  performance,  and 
there  was  neither  exaggerated  cordiality  nor  any  semblance 
of  constraint  in  his  manner  as  he  advanced  to  Mrs.  Ricketts, 
and  taking  her  hand,  pressed  it  respectfully  to  his  lips. 

"  This  salutation,"  said  he,  gayly,  "  is  a  commission  from 
Lord  Kenny  croft,  your  old  and  constant  admirer.  It  was 
his  last  word  as  we  parted  :  '  Kiss  Mrs.  Ricketts's  hand  for 
me,  and  say  I  am  faithful  as  ever.' " 

"  Poor  dear  Lord  !  General,  here  is  Lord  Norwood  come 
to  see  us." 

"  How  good  of  him  —  how  very  kind  !  Just  arrived  from 
the  East,  my  Lord?  "  said  he,  shaking  Foglass  by  the  hand 
in  mistake. 

"  No,  sir;  from  Malta."  He  wouldn't  say  England,  for 
reasons.  "Miss  Ricketts,  I  am  most  happy  to  see  j'ou  — 
and  still  occupied  with  the  fine  arts?  Haggy,  how  d'ye  do? 
Really  it  seems  to  me  like  yesterday  since  I  sat  here  last  in 
this  delightful  arm-chair,  and  looked  about  me  on  all  these 
dear  familiar  objects.  You  've  varnished  the  Correggio,  I 
think?" 

"The  Vandyk,  my  Lord." 

"To  be  sure  —  the  Vandyk.  How  stupid  I  am  !  Indeed, 
Lady  Foxington  said  that  not  all  your  culture  would  ever 
make  anything  of  me." 

"  How  is  Charlotte  ?"  asked  Mrs.  Ricketts, — this  being 
the  familiar  for  Lady  F. 

"Just  as  you  saw  her  last.  Thinner,  perhaps,  but  look- 
ing admirably." 


A   SiMALL   DINNER  AT  THE   VILLINO  ZOE.  311 

"  And  the  dear  Duke  —  how  is  he? " 

"  Gouty  —  always  gouty  —  but  able  to  be  about." 

"I  am  so  glad  to  hear  it.  It  is  so  refreshing  to  talk  of 
old  friends." 

"They  are  always  talking  of  you.  I'm  sure,  'Zoe'  — 
forgive  me  the  liberty  —  Zoe  Rieketts  is  an  authority  on 
every  subject  of  taste  and  literature." 

"How  did  you  come  here,  my  Lord?"  whispered  Hag- 
gerstone. 

"  The  new  opera  broke  down,  and  there  is  no  house  open 
before  twelve,"  was  the  hasty  reply. 

"  Is  Jemima  married,  my  Lord?  " 

"  No.  There 's  something  or  other  wrong  about  the  settle- 
ments.    Who 's  the  foreigner,  Haggy  ?  " 

"A  Pole.     Petrolaflfsky." 

"  No,  no  —  not  a  bit  of  it.  /  know  him,"  said  the  other, 
rapidly;  then,  turning  to  Mrs.  Rieketts,  he  grew  warmly 
interested  in  the  private  life  and  adventures  of  the  nobility, 
for  all  of  whom  she  entertained  a  most  catholic  affection. 

It  was,  indeed,  a  grand  field-day  for  the  peerage ;  even 
to  the  "Pensioners"  all  were  under  arms.  It  was  a 
review  such  as  she  rarely  enjoyed,  and  certainly  she  "  im- 
proved the  occasion."  She  scattered  about  her  noble  per- 
sonages with  the  profusion  of  a  child  strewing  wild-flowers. 
There  were  Dukes  she  had  known  from  their  cradles ; 
Marchionesses  with  whom  she  had  disported  in  childhood ; 
Earls  and  Viscounts  who  had  been  her  earliest  playmates ; 
not  to  speak  of  a  more  advanced  stage  in  her  history,  when 
all  these  distinguished  individuals  were  suppliants  and  suitors. 
To  listen  to  her,  you  would  swear  that  she  had  never  played 
shuttlecock  with  anything  under  an  Earl,  nor  trundled  a 
hoop  with  aught  below  a  Lord  in  Waiting !  Norwood  fooled 
her  to  the  top  of  her  bent.  To  use  his  own  phrase,  "  he  left 
her  easy  hazards,  and  everything  on  the  balls."  It  is  need- 
less to  state  that,  in  such  pleasant  converse,  she  had  no 
memory  for  the  noble  Viscount's  own  transgressions.  He 
might  have  robbed  the  Exchequer,  or  stolen  the  Crown 
jewels,  for  anything  that  she  could  recollect!  and  when,  by 
a  seeming  accident,  he  did  allude  to  Newmarket,  and  lament 
his   most   "  unlucky   book,"   she   smiled    complacently,    as 


312  THE   DALTONS. 

though  to  say  that  he  could  afford  himself  even  the  luxury  of 
being  ruined,  and  not  care  for  it. 

"  Florence  is  pretty  much  as  it  used  to  be,  I  suppose," 
said  he ;  ''  and  one  really  needs  one's  friends  to  rebut  and 
refute  foolish  rumors,  when  they  get  abroad.  Now,  you  11 
oblige  me  by  contradicting,  if  you  ever  hear,  this  absurd 
story.  I  neither  did  win  forty  thousand  from  the  Duke  of 
Stratton,  nor  shoot  him  in  a  duel  for  non-payment."  —  Both 
these  derelictions  were  invented  on  the  moment.  —  "  You  '11 
hear  fifty  other  similar  offences  laid  to  my  charge ;  and  I 
trust  to  you  and  the  Onslows  for  the  refutation.  In  fact,  it 
is  the  duty  of  one's  owu  class  to  defend  '  their  order.'  " 

Mrs.  Ricketts  smiled  blandly,  and  bowed,  —  bowed  as 
though  her  gauze  turban  had  been  a  coronet,  and  the  tinsel 
finery  jewelled  strawberry  leaves !  To  be  coupled  with  the 
Onslows  in  the  defence  of  a  viscount  was  a  proud  thought. 
What  if  it  might  be  made  a  grand  reality? 

"  A^^ropos  of  the  Onslows,  my  Lord,"  said  she,  insidi- 
ously, "you  are  very  intimate  with  them.  How  is  it  that  we 
have  seen  so  little  of  each  other?  Are  we  not  congenial 
spirits  ?  " 

"  Good  Heavens !  I  thought  you  were  like  sisters.  There 
never  were  people  so  made  for  each  other.  All  your  tastes, 
habits,  associations  —  forgive  me,  if  I  say  your  very,  anti- 
pathies—  are  alike ;  for  you  both  are  unforgiving  enemies  of 
vulgarity.  Depend  upon  it,  there  has  been  some  underhand 
influence  at  work.  Rely  on 't,  that  evil  tongues  have  kept 
you  apart."  This  he  said  in  a  whisper,  and  with  a  side- 
long glance  towards  where  Haggerstone  sat  at  ecarte  with  the 
Pole. 

"Do  you  really  think  so?"  asked  she,  reddening  with 
anger,  as  she  followed  the  direction  of  his  eyes. 

"I  can  hit  upon  no  other  solution  of  the  mystery,"  said 
he,  thoughtfully;  "but  know  it  I  will,  and  must.  You 
know,  of  course,  that  they  can't  endure  him?" 

"No,  I  never  heard  that." 

"It  is  not  mere  dislike,  it  is  actual  detestation.  I  have 
striven  to  moderate  the  feeling.  I  have  said,  '  True  enough, 
the  man  is  bad  ton^  but  you  needn't  admit  him  to  anything 
like   intimacy.     Let  him  come  and  go  with  the  herd  you 


A  SMALL  DINNER  AT  THE  VILLINO  ZOE.         313 

receive  at  your  large  parties,  and,  above  all,  never  repeat 
anything  after  him,  for  he  has  always  the  vulgar  version  of 
every  incident  in  high  life.'  " 

Mrs.  Ricketts  raised  her  arched  eyebrows  and  looked 
astonished;  but  it  was  a  feeling  in  which  acquiescence  was 
beautifully  blended,  and  the  Viscount  marked  it  well. 

"You  must  tell  me  something  of  this  Miss  Dalton,"  said 
he,  drawing  his  chair  closer;  "they  affect  a  kind  of  mystery 
about  her.     AVho  is  she?     What  is  she?" 

"There  are  various  versions  of  her  story  abroad,"  said 
Mrs.  Ricketts,  who  now  spoke  like  the  Chief  Justice  deliv- 
ering a  charge.  "Some  say  that  she  is  a  natural  daughter 
of  Sir  Stafford's;  some  aver  that  she  is  the  last  of  a  dis- 
tinguished family  whose  fortune  was  embezzled  by  the 
Ouslows;  others  assert  that  she  is  a  half-sister  of  Lady 
Hester's  own;  but  who  ought  to  know  the  truth  better  than 
you,  my  Lord  ?  " 

"I  know  absolutely  nothing.  She  joined  them  in  Ger- 
many; but  where,  when,  and  how,  I  never  heard." 

"1  '11  soon  be  able  to  inform  you,  my  Lord,  on  every 
detail  of  the  matter,"  said  she,  proudly.  "Our  kind  friend, 
yonder,  Mr.  Foglass,  has  undertaken  to  discover  everything. 
Mr.  F., — will  you  touch  his  arm  forme,  Martha?"  and, 
the  gentleman  being  aroused  to  consciousness,  now  arose, 
and  approached  Mrs.  Ricketts's  chair, — "may  I  be  per- 
mitted to  take  a  glance  at  your  note-book?"  This  speech 
was  accompanied  by  a  pantomimic  gesture  which  he  quickly 
understood.  "I  wish  to  show  you,  my  Lord,"  said  she, 
addressing  the  Viscount,  "that  we  proceed  most  methodi- 
cally in  our  searches  after  title,  as  I  sometimes  call  it  — 
ha,  ha,  ha!  Now,  here  is  the  precious  little  volume,  and 
this  will  explain  the  degree  of  accuracy  such  an  investiga- 
tion demands.  This  comes  of  living  abroad,  my  Lord," 
added  she,  with  a  smile.  "One  never  can  be  too  cautious, 
—  never  too  guarded  in  one's  intimacies.  The  number  of 
dubious  people  one  meets  with,  the  equivocal  characters 
that  somehow  obtain  a  footing  in  society  —  Here,  I  really 
must  ask  you  to  decipher  these  ingenious  hieroglyphics 
yourself."     And  she  handed  the  book  to  his  Lordship. 

He  took  it  courteously  at  the  spot  she  opened  it;  and  as 


314  THE  DALTONS. 

his  eyes  fell  upon  the  page,  a  slight  —  very  slight  —  flush 
rose  to  his  cheek,  while  he  continued  to  read  the  lines  be- 
fore him  more  than  once  over.  "Very  explicit,  certainly!  " 
said  he,  while  a  smile  of  strange  meaning  curled  his  lip; 
and  then,  closing  the  book,  he  returned  it  to  the  lady's 
hand;  not,  however,  before  he  had  adroitly  torn  out  the 
page  he  had  been  looking  at,  and  which  contained  the  fol- 
lowing words:  "Norwood's  affair — the  precise  story  of  the 
N.  M.  business  —  if  cut  in  England,  and  scratched  at  the 
'Whip.'" 

"I  cannot  suflSciently  commend  either  your  caution  or 
your  tact,  Mrs.  Ricketts,"  said  he,  bowing  urbanely. 
"Without  a  little  scrutiny  of  this  kind  our  salons  would  be 
overrun  with  blacklegs  and  bad  characters !  " 

It  was  now  late,  —  late  enough  for  Lady  Hester,  —  and 
the  Viscount  rose  to  take  his  leave.  He  was  perfectly 
satisfied  with  the  results  of  his  visit.  He  had  secretly 
enjoyed  all  the  absurdities  of  his  hostess,  and  even  stored 
up  some  of  her  charming  flights  for  repetition  elsewhere. 
He  had  damaged  Haggerstone,  whose  evil-speaking  he 
dreaded,  and,  by  impugning  his  good  breeding,  had 
despoiled  him  of  all  credit.  He  had  seen  the  Polish  Count 
in  a  society  which,  even  such  as  it  was,  was  many  degrees 
above  his  pretensions;  and  although  they  met  without 
recognition,  a  masonic  glance  of  intelligence  had  passed 
between  them ;  and,  lastly,  he  had  made  an  ally  of  the  dear 
Zoe  herself,  ready  to  swear  to  his  good  character,  and 
vouch  for  the  spotless  honor  of  all  his  dealings  on  turf  or 
card-table. 

"Has  he  explained  the  Newmarket  affair,  madam?"  said 
Haggerstone,  as  the  door  closed  on  the  Viscount's  de- 
parture. 

"Perfectly,  Colonel;  there  is  not  the  shadow  of  a  suspi- 
cion against  him." 

"And  so  he  was  not  scr-scr-scratched  at  the 'Whip'?" 
cried  Purvis,  emerging  from  his  leafy  retreat. 

"Nothing  of  the  kind,  Scroope." 

"A  scratch,  but  not  a  wound,  perhaps,"  said  Hagger- 
stone, with  a  grin  of  malice. 

"1  am  ver  happy  —  please  ver  moosh,"  said  the  Count, 


A   SMALL  DINNER  AT  THE    VILLINO   ZOE.  315 

"for  de  sake  of  de  order.  I  am  republiquecain,  but  never 
forget  I  'm  de  noble  blood!  " 

"Beautiful  sentiment!"  exclaimed  Mrs.  Ricketts,  enthu- 
siastically. "Martha,  did  you  hear  what  the  Count  said? 
General,  1  hope  you  didn't  lose  it?" 

"I  was  alway  for  de  cause  of  de  people,"  said  the  Count, 
throwing  back  his  hair  wildly,  and  seeming  as  if  ready  to 
do  battle  at  a  moment's  warning. 

"For  an  anti-monarchist,  he  turns  up  the  king  wonder- 
fully often  at  ecarte"  said  Haggerstone,  in  a  low  muttering, 
only  overheard  by  Martha. 

"I  don't  think  the  demo-demo-demo  — "  But  before 
Purvis  had  finished  his  polysyllabic  word,  the  company 
had  time  to  make  their  farewell  speeches  and  depart.  In- 
deed, as  the  servant  came  to  extinguish  the  lamps,  he  found 
the  patient  Purvis  very  red  in  the  face,  and  with  other 
signs  of  excitement,  deeply  seated  in  a  chair,  and  as  if 
struggling  against  an  access  of  suffocation. 

What  the  profound  sentiment  which  he  desired  to  enun- 
ciate might  therefore  be,  is  lost  to  history,  and  this  true 
narrative  is  unable  to  record. 


CHAPTER   XXVIII. 

THE    viscount's    VISION. 

When  Lord  Norwood  arrived  at  the  Mazzarini  Palace,  he 
was  surprised  not  to  find  the  usual  half-dozen  carriages  of 
the  habitues  drawn  up  in  the  courtyard,  and  still  more  so 
to  learn  that  her  Ladyship  did  not  receive  that  evening. 
He  ascended  to  George  Onslow's  apartment,  and  discovered 
that  he  had  dined  with  Prince  Midchekoflf,  and  not  yet 
returned.  Not  knowing  how  to  spend  the  hours,  so  much 
earlier  than  those  of  his  usually  retiring  to  rest,  he  lighted 
a  cigar,  and  threw  himself  on  a  sofa  before  the  fire. 

The  reveries  of  men  who  live  much  in  the  world  are  sel; 
dom  very  agreeable.  The  work  of  self-examination  comes 
with  a  double  penalty  when  it  is  rarely  exercised,  and  the 
heavy  arrears  of  time  are  formidable  scores  to  confront. 
Lord  Norwood  was  no  exception  to  this  theory.  Not  that 
he  was  one  to  waste  time  or  temper  in  self-reproaches.  The 
bygone  was  essentially  with  him  the  "irrevocable."  It 
might,  it  is  true,  occasionally  suggest  a  hint  for  the  future, 
but  it  never  originated  a  sorrow  for  the  past.  His  philoso- 
phy was  a  very  brief  code,  and  comprised  itself  in  this,  — 
"that  he  did  n't  think  well  of  himself,  but  thought  worse  of 
all  others."  All  that  he  had  seen  of  life  was  duplicity, 
falsehood,  selfishness,  and  treachery.  In  different  stations 
these  characteristics  took  different  forms;  and  what  was 
artfully  cloaked  in  courtesy  by  the  lord  was  displayed  in  all 
its  naked  deformity  by  the  plebeian. 

He  might  have  conducted  himself  respectably  enough 
had  he  been  rich,  —  at  least  he  fervently  believed  so ;  but 
he  was  poor,  and  therefore  driven  to  stratagems  to  maintain 
his  position  in  society.  Cheated  by  his  guardians  and 
neglected   by  his   tutor,   he  was  sent  into  the  world  half 


THE  VISCOUNT'S  VISION.  317 

ruined,  and  wholly  ignorant,  to  become  at  first  a  victim, 
and  afterwards  the  victimizer.  With  no  spirit  of  retribu- 
tive vengeance,  —  there  was  nothing  of  reprisal  in  his  line 
of  conduct,  —  he  simply  thought  that  such  was  the  natural 
and  inevitable  course  of  events,  and  that  every  man  begins 
as  dupe,  and  ends  as  knave.  The  highest  flight  of  the 
human  mind,  in  his  esteem,  was  successful  hypocrisy;  and 
although  without  the  plastic  wit  or  the  actual  knowledge  of 
life  which  are  required  well  to  sustain  a  part,  he  had  con- 
trived to  impose  upon  a  very  large  number  of  persons  who 
looked  up  to  his  rank ;  for,  strange  enough,  many  who  would 
not  have  been  duped  by  a  commoner,  fell  easy  victims  to 
the  arts  of  "my  Lord." 

The  value  of  his  title  he  understood  perfectly.  He  knew 
everything  it  could,  and  everything  it  could  not,  do  for 
him.  He  was  aware  that  the  aristocracy  of  England  would 
stand  by  one  of  their  order  through  many  vicissitudes,  and 
that  he  who  is  born  to  a  coronet  has  a  charmed  life,  in 
circumstances  where  one  less  noble  must  perish  inglori- 
ously.  He  knew,  too,  how,  for  very  shame's  sake,  they 
■^ould  screen  one  of  themselves,  and  by  a  hundred  devices 
seem  to  contradict  before  the  world  what  they  lament  over 
behind  its  back;  and,  lastly,  he  knew  well  that  he  had 
always  a  title  and  a  lineage  to  bestow,  and  that  the  peerage 
was  the  great  prize  among  the  daughters  of  men. 

Now,  latterly,  he  had  been  pushing  prerogative  somewhat 
too  far.  He  had  won  large  sums  from  young  men  not  out 
of  their  teens ;  he  had  been  associated  in  play  transactions 
with  names  less  than  reputable;  and,  finally,  having  backed 
a  stable  to  an  immense  amount  at  Newmarket,  had  levanted 
on  the  day  of  his  losing.  He  had  done  the  act  deliberately 
and  calmly.  It  was  a  coup  which,  if  successful,  replaced 
him  in  credit  and  affluence;  if  a  failure,  it  only  confirmed 
the  wavering  judgment  of  his  set,  and  left  him  to  shift  for 
the  future  in  a  different  sphere;  for,  while  a  disgraced  vis- 
count is  very  bad  company  for  viscounts,  he  is  often  a  very 
welcome  guest  amongst  that  amiably  innocent  class  who 
think  the  privileges  of  the  aristocracy  include  bad  morals 
with  blue  ribbons. 

The   Turf   could   now  no  longer  be  a  career  with   him. 


318  THE   DALTONS. 

Ecarte  and  lansquenet  were  almost  as  much  out  of  the 
question.  Billiards,  as  Sir  Walter  said  of  literature, 
"might  be  a  walking-stick,  but  never  a  crutch."  There 
was,  then,  nothing  left  for  it  but  marriage.  A  rich  heiress 
was  his  last  coup ;  and  as,  in  all  likelihood,  the  thing  could 
not  be  done  twice,  it  required  geat  circumspection. 

In  England  this  were  easy  enough.  The  manufacturing 
districts  were  grown  ambitious.  Cotton  lords  were  desirous 
of  a  more  recognized  nobility,  and  millowners  could  be 
found  ready  to  buy  a  coronet  at  the  cost  of  half  their 
fortune.  But  from  England  late  events  had  banished  him, 
and  with  a  most  damaged  reputation. 

Now,  carrying  nobility  to  the  Continent  was  like  bring- 
ing coals  to  Newcastle,  the  whole  length  and  breadth  of  the 
land  being  covered  with  counts,  barons,  dukes,  and  princes ; 
and  although  English  nobility  stands  on  a  different  footing, 
there  was  no  distinguishing  the  "real  article"  amid  this 
mass  of  counterfeit. 

Every  Frenchman  of  small  fortune  was  an  emigre  count. 
Every  German,  of  none,  was  sure  to  be  a  baron.  All 
Poles,  unwashed,  uncombed,  and  uncared  for,  were  of  the 
very  cream  of  the  aristocracy;  and  as  for  Italians!  it  was 
a  nation  of  princes,  with  their  uncles  all  cardinals.  To  be 
a  viscount  in  such  company  was,  perhaps,  like  Lord  Castle- 
reagh's  unstarred  coat,  plus  distingtie^  but  certainly  more 
modest.  The  milor,  if  not  associated  with  boundless  wealth, 
six  carriages,  two  couriers,  three  cooks,  and  a  groom  of  the 
chambers,  the  whole  of  the  "Russie,"  or  the  "Black  Eagle," 
means  nothing  abroad.  If  not  bound  up  with  all  the  extrav- 
agance and  all  the  eccentricities  of  riches,  if  not  dazzling 
by  display  or  amazing  by  oddity,  it  is  a  contradiction  of 
terms;  and  to  be  an  English  noble  without  waste,  profusion, 
and  absurdity,  is  to  deny  your  country  or  be  a  counterfeit 
of  your  class. 

Lord  Norwood  knew  and  felt  all  these  things.  They  had 
often  occupied  his  speculations  and  engaged  his  thoughts; 
so  that,  if  his  mind  reverted  to  them  now,  it  was  to  regard 
them  as  facts  for  future  theory  to  build  upon  as  mathema- 
ticians make  use  of  the  proofs  of  geometry  without  going 
over  the   steps   which   lead   to   conviction.      No;    all    his 


THE  VISCOUNT'S  VISION.  319 

present  reflections  took  a  practical  form,  and  might  be 
summed  up  in  the  one  resolve,  "I  must  go  no  further.  I 
have  done  everything  that  a  man  dare  do,  ^—perhaps  a  little 
more,  —  and  yet  keep  his  footing  in  the  world."  That  tacit 
verdict  of  "not  proven,"  which  had  been  passed  upon  so 
many  of  his  actions,  might  at  any  moment  be  reversed  now, 
and  a  review  of  his  life's  career  presented  anything  but  a 
bright  retrospect.  Expulsion  from  a  gteat  school  at  thir- 
teen; three  years'  private  dissipation  and  secret  wickedness 
in  a  clergyman's  family;  a  dissolute  regiment,  from  which 
he  was  given  leave  to  sell  out  at  Malta;  two  years  with  the 
Legion  or  Don  Carlos,  it  mattered  not  which,  in  Spain;  a 
year  or  so  in  London,  with  a  weak  attempt  at  reformation; 
a  staff  appointment  in  India  obtained  and  sold;  exposure 
partly  hushed  up;  debts;  Jews;  renewals;  the  Fleet;  the 
Bankruptcy  Court;  a  few  disreputable  duels;  an  action  for 
seduction;  ending  with  the  last  affair  at  Newmarket,  made 
up  the  grand  outline,  the  details  comprising  various  little 
episodes  with  which  we  must  not  trouble  ourselves. 

One  incident,  however,  would  come  up  prominently  before 
his  Lordship's  mind,  and,  however  little  given  to  let  the 
past  usurp  the  thoughts  which  should  be  given  to  the  pres- 
ent, it  still  insisted  upon  sharing  his  attention.  This  was 
no  less  than  a  little  love  affair  in  Spain  with  a  "ballerina" 
of  the  Opera,  with  whom,  by  the  aid  of  a  young  priest  then 
studying  at  Saragossa,  he  had  contracted  a  mock  marriage. 
The  sudden  movement  of  a  corps  of  the  army  to  which  he 
was  attached  gave  him  an  opportunity  of  an  easy  divorce 
from  his  bride,  and  it  is  likely  he  had  not  twice  thought  of 
her  since  the  event  had  happened.  Now,  however,  that  an 
intention  of  marrying  in  reality  occurred  to  him,  the  inci- 
dent came  freshly  to  his  mind,  and  h3  jocularly  wondered  if 
his  second  marriage  might  prove  more  fortunate  than  his 
first. 

The  hour  and  the  place  were  favorable  to  revery.  It  was 
past  midnight.  All  was  silent  and  noiseless  in  the  great 
palace;  the  sharp  ticking  of  the  clock  on  the  mantel-piece 
was  the  only  sound  to  be  heard,  save,  at  a  long  distance 
off,  the  dull,  subdued  flow  of  the  Arno.  The  room  itself, 
unlighted,  except  by  the  flickering  wood  fire,  was  in  deep 


320  THE  DALTONS. 

shadow;  and,  lulled  by  these  influences  and  his  mild 
Manilla,  Norwood  was  free  to  revel  in  so  much  of  dream- 
land as  natures  like  his  ever  explore. 

Who  can  tell  whether  men  of  this  stamp  know  what  it  is 
to  "grieve,"  —  whether  chagrin  for  some  momentary  disap- 
pointment, anger  at  being  thwarted,  is  not  the  nearest 
approach  to  sorrow  that  they  ever  feel?  The  whole  course 
of  their  lives  seems  opposed  to  the  notion  of  deep  or  intense 
feeling,  and  the  restless  activity  of  their  ingenious  minds 
appears  to  deny  the  possibility  of  regrets.  As  for  Nor- 
wood, he  would  have  laughed  at  the  puerility  of  going  over 
the  bygone;  therefore,  if  he  did  recur  to  a  former  incident 
of  hisMife,  it  was  involuntary  and  probably  induced  by  the 
accidental  similarity  with  those  which  now  engaged  his 
thoughts. 

"If  this  Dalton  girl  be  rich,"  thought  he,  "I  might  do 
worse.  There  are  no  relatives  to  make  impertinent  inqui- 
ries, or  ask  awkward  questions.  Hester  can,  and  must, 
if  I  desire,  assist  me.  Living  out  of  England,  the  girl  her- 
self will  have  heard  nothing  of  my  doings,  and  in  name, 
appearance,  and  air  she  is  presentable  anywhere."  He 
thought,  too,  that,  as  a  married  man,  his  character  would  be 
in  a  measure  rehabilitated.  It  would  be  like  entering  on  a 
new  road  in  life;  and  if  this  could  be  done  with  a  certain 
degree  of  style  and  outlay,  he  had  great  trust  in  the  world's 
charity  and  forgiveness  to  pardon  all  the  past.  "A  good 
house  and  a  good  cook,"  thought  he,  "are  the  best  witnesses 
to  call  to  character  I  have  ever  met.  Turtle  and  champagne 
have  proved  sovereign  remedies  for  slander  in  all  ages;  and 
the  man  who  can  sport  Lafitte  in  the  evening,  and  split  a 
pencil  at  twenty  paces  of  a  morning,  may  defy  envy,  hatred, 
and  malice,  and  all  uncharitableness." 

To  find  out  about  this  girl's  fortune  was  then  his  first 
object.  As  for  family,  his  own  rank  was  enough  for  both. 
The  matter  must  be  done  quickly.  The  London  season 
over,  England  would  be  pouring  its  myriads  of  talking, 
gossiping  travellers  over  the  Continent,  and  then  he  should 
be  discussed,  —  probably  avoided  and  shunned  too. 

Even  already  certain  unmistakable  signs  of  coolness 
announced  themselves  amongst  the  men  of  his  acquaintance. 


THE  VISCOUNT'S  VISION.  321 

George  Onslow  avoided  play  when  in  his  company. 
Treviliani,  one  of  Lady  Hester's  chief  danglers,  and  the 
patron  of  the  Turf  in  Tuscany,  would  n't  even  allude  to  a 
horse  before  him.  Prince  Midchekoflf  went  further,  and 
actually,  save  on  rare  occasions,  omitted  him  from  his 
dinner  list.  Now,  although  Norwood  averred  that  he  de- 
tested, petit  jeu,  hated  spooney  talk  about  racing,  and 
dreaded  the  tiresome  display  of  a  "Tartar  feast,"  these 
were  all  threatening  indications,  and  he  saw  their  meaning. 
He  would  willingly  have  fastened  upon  some  one  man, 
fixed  a  quarrel  on  him,  and  shot  him.  He  had  more  than 
once  in  life  adopted  this  policy  with  success;  but  here  it 
would  have  been  inapplicable,  and  the  public  opinion  he 
sought  to  bring  on  his  own  side  would  have  been  only 
more  inevitably  arrayed  against  him. 

"In  what  a  mess  does  the  want  of  money  involve  a  man!  " 
thought  he,  as  he  lay  before  the  half-dying  embers  of  the 
wood  fire.  "Had  I  vK>n  my  bets  on  '  Chanticleer,'  or  had 
I  but  backed  '  Amontillado,'  how  different  had  my  position 
been  to-day!  That  the  simple  change  of  one  name  for 
another  in  my  betting-book  —  the  mere  hazard  of  a  choice, 
of  a  horse,  too  —  should  influence  a  man's  whole  life,  is  a 
pretty  fair  instance  of  what  the  world  is!  Had  I  '  come 
right,'  I  should  now  be  the  favored  guest  of  some  noble 
duke,  shooting  his  grace's  pheasants,  drinking  his  Bur- 
gundy, and  flirting  with  his  daughters.  Fortune  willed  it 
otherwise,  and  here  I  am,  actually  plotting  a  match  with  a 
nameless  girl  to  rescue  m^-self  from  utter  ruin.  Three 
weeks  ago  I  would  not  have  believed  that  this  could  happen; 
and  who  can  tell  what  another  three  weeks  may  bring  forth? 
—  perhaps,  already,  there  is  mischief  brewing.  What  if  my 
Lady's  refusal  to  receive  this  evening  may  have  some  signifi- 
cation in  it?  Haggerstone  is  too  courteous  by  half,  and 
Jekyl  has  never  called  upon  me  sinc2  my  arrival!"  He 
laughed  ironically  as  he  said  this,  and  added,  "It  is  a 
bold  game,  after  all,  for  them  to  play!  Reprisals  —  to  two 
of  them,  at  least  —  might  prove  awkward;  and  as  for  '  Mas- 
ter Albert,'  he  lives  but  on  general  sufferance.  There  has 
been  a  long  run  of  luck  against  me;  nothing  but  ill- fortune 
since  the  day  I  might  have  married  Hester,  and  yet  hung 

VOL    I. — 21 


822  THE  DALTONS. 

back,  and  that  very  same  year  she  marries  another,  and 
inherits  an  immense  fortune  in  India.  What  a  blow  to 
each  of  us!  Such  has  been  my  lot  through  life;  always 
backing  the  loser  till  the  very  moment  when  luck  changes, 
and  his  turn  comes  to  win." 

As  these  thoughts  passed  through  his  mind,  weariness, 
the  silence  of  the  hour,  the  darkened  room,  induced  slum- 
ber; and  although  once  or  twice  he  made  a  half-effort  to 
arouse  himself  and  go  home,  the  listless  feeling  gained  the 
mastery,  and  he  dropped  off  to  sleep.  The  uneasy  con- 
sciences have  oftentimes  very  easy  slumbers.  Norwood's 
was  of  the  calmest;  not  a  dream,  not  one  flitting  fancy 
disturbed  it. 

It  was  already  nigh  day  as  he  lay  thus,  when  the  dull  roll 
of  wheels  beneath  the  window  in  part  awoke  him ;  at  least, 
it  so  far  aroused  him  that  he  remembered  where  he  was,  and 
fancied  that  it  might  be  George  Onslow,  on  the  return  from 
his  dinner-party.  He  lay  for  some  minutes  expecting  to 
hear  his  step  upon  the  stair,  and  see  him  enter  the  room ; 
but  as  all  seemed  to  resume  its  wonted  quiet,  he  was  dozing 
off  again,  when  he  heard  the  sound  of  a  hand  upon  the  lock 
of  the  door. 

It  is  one  of  the  strange  instincts  of  half-slumber  to  be 
often  more  alive  to  the  influence  of  subdued  and  stealthy 
sounds  than  to  louder  noises.  The  slightest  whisperings, 
the  low  murmurings  of  a  human  voice,  the  creaking  of  a 
chair,  the  cautious  drawing  back  of  a  curtain  will  jar  upon 
and  arouse  the  faculties  that  have  been  insensible  to  the 
rushing  flow  of  a  cataract  or  the  dull  booming  of  the  sea. 

Slight  as  were  the  sounds  now  heard,  Norwood  started  as 
he  listened  to  them,  and,  at  once  arousing  himself,  he  fixed 
his  eyes  upon  the  door,  in  which  the  handle  was  seen  to  turn 
slowly  and  cautiously.  The  impression  that  it  was  a  robber 
immediately  occurred  to  him,  and  he  determined  to  lie  still 
and  motionless,  to  watch  what  might  happen.  He  was  not 
wanting  in  personal  courage,  and  had  full  confidence  in  his 
strength  and  activity. 

The  door  at  last  opened ;  at  first,  a  very  little,  and  slowly, 
then  gradually  more  and  more,  till,  by  the  mysterious  half- 
light  to  which  his  eyes  had  grown   accustomed,  Norwood 


THE  VISCOUNT'S  VISION.  323 

could  see  the  flounces  of  a  female  dress,  and  the  small,  neat 
foot  of  a  woman  beneath  it.  The  faint,  uncertain  flame  of 
the  fire  showed  him  thus  much,  but  left  the  remainder  of  the 
figure  in  deep  shadow. 

Whether  from  excess  of  caution,  or  that  she  was  yet 
hesitating  what  course  to  take,  she  remained  for  some 
seconds  motionless;  and  Norwood,  who  had  subdued  his 
breathing  to  the  utmost,  lay  in  the  deep  shadow,  speculating 
on  the  upshot  of  an  adventure  from  which  he  promised  him- 
self, at  least,  an  amusing  story.  The  deep  black  lace 
which  fell  over  the  arched  instep  indicated  a  degree  of  rank 
in  the  wearer  that  gave  a  piquancy  to  the  incident,  and 
•  imparted  a  zest  to  the  curiosity  of  a  man  who  probably  knew 
no  higher  pleasure  in  life  than  in  possessing  the  secrets  of 
his  acquaintance. 

He  had  time  to  run  over  in  his  mind  a  dozen  little  specu- 
lations of  who  she  was,  ei;e  she  stirred ;  and  at  last,  as  if 
with  change  of  purpose,  he  saw,  or  fancied  that  he  saw, 
the  door  beginning  slowly  to  close.  Whether  this  was  a 
mere  trick  of  his  excited  imagination  or  not,  a  sudden  ges- 
ture of  impatience  on  his  part  threw  down  one  of  the  cush- 
ions of  the  sofa.  A  slight  shriek  —  so  slight  as  to  be 
barely  heard  —  broke  from  the  female,  and  she  banged  the 
door  to.  Norwood  reached  it  with  a  spring;  but  although, 
as  he  wrenched  it  open,  he  could  yet  hear  the  rustling  of  a 
woman's  dress  in  the  passage,  the  sharp  sound  of  a  door 
hastily  shut  and  locked  defied  all  thought  of  pursuit,  and 
he  stood  pondering  over  what  had  happened,  and  almost 
doubtful  of  its  reality. 

"At  least,  the  fair  visitor  belongs  to  the  family;  that 
much  I  may  rely  upon,"  said  he,  as  he  lighted  a  candle  to 
explore  the  locality  a  little  closer.  The  corridor,  however, 
abruptly  stopped  at  a  small  door,  which  was  locked  on  the 
inside;  but  to  what  portion  of  the  house  it  led  he  could 
not  even  conjecture.  He  was  not  a  very  unlikely  man 
to  trace  the  clew  of  such  an  adventure  as  this  seemed  to  be. 
It  was  one  of  those  incidents  with  which  his  course  of  life 
had  made  him  somewhat  conversant;  and  few  were  better 
able  to  fill  up  from  conjecture  every  blank  of  such  a  his- 
tory.    Nor  was  he  one  to  shrink   from  any  suspicion,  no 


324  THE  DALTONS. 

matter  how  repugnant  to  every  thought  of  honor,  nor  how 
improbable  to  every  mind  less  imbued  with  vice  than  his 
own. 

For  a  moment  or  two,  however,  he  almost  doubted  whether 
the  whole  might  not  have  been  a  dream,  so  sudden,  so  brief, 
so  trackless  did  it  all  appear.  This  doubt,  was,  however, 
quickly  resolved,  as  his  eyes  fell  upon  the  floor,  where  a 
small  fragment  of  a  lace  dress  lay,  as  it  was  caught  and 
torn  off  in  the  closing  door.  Norwood  took  it  up,  and  sat 
down  to  examine  it  with  attention. 

"Point  d'AleuQon,"  said  he,  "bespeaks  no  vulgar  wearer; 
and  such  is  this!  Who  could  have  thought  of  George 
Onslow  playing  Lothario!  But  this  comes  of  Italy.  And 
now  to  find  her  out."  He  ran  over  to  himself  half  a  dozen 
names,  in  which  were  nearly  as  many  nationalities,  but 
some  doubt  accompanied  each.  "No  matter,"  thought  he, 
"the  secret  will  keep." 

He  suddenly  remembered,  at  the  instant,  that  he  had 
promised  an  acquaintance  to  pass  some  days  with  him  in 
the  Maremma,  shooting ;  and,  not  sorry  to  have  so  good  a 
reason  for  a  few  days'  absence,  he  arose  and  set  out  towards 
his  hotel,  having  first  carefully  placed  within  his  pocket- 
book  the  little  fragment  of  lace,  —  a  clew  to  a  mystery  he 
was  resolved  to  explore  hereafter. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

Frank's  journey. 

Our  readers  may,  ere  this,  have  surmised  that  Frank 
Dalton's  career  as  a  soldier  was  neither  very  adventurous 
nor  exciting,  since  otherwise  we  should  scarcely  have 
so  nearly  forgotten  him.  When  he  parted  with  Hanserl 
to  pursue  his  journey,  his  heart  was  full  of  warring  and 
conflicting  emotions,  love  of  home  and  hope  of  future 
distinction  alternately  swaying  him ;  so  that  while  his 
affections  drew  him  ever  backwards,  his  ambitions  urged 
him  to  go  on. 

"I  could  have  been  so  happy  to  have  lived  with  them," 
thought  he,  "  even  as  a  peasant  lives,  —  a  life  of  daily  toil. 
I  would  have  asked  for  no  higher  fortune  than  that  peace- 
ful home  we  had  made  for  ourselves  by  our  own  affections, 
—  the  happy  fireside,  that  sufficed  us  for  all  the  blandish- 
ments of  wealth  and  riches.  Still  there  would  have  been 
something  ignoble  in  this  humility,  —  something  that  would 
ill  become  my  blood  as  a  Dalton.  It  was  not  thus  my 
ancestors  understood  their  station, — it  was  not  with  such 
lowly  ambitions  their  hearts  were  stirred.  Count  Stephen 
himself  might  at  this  hour  have  been  in  obscurity  and 
poverty  —  as  great,  perhaps,  as  our  own  —  had  he  been 
thus  minded ;  and  now  he  is  a  field-marshal,  with  a  '  Maria 
Teresa'  cross  on  his  breast!  and  this  without  one  friend 
to  counsel  or  to  aid  him !  What  a  noble  sersMce  is  that 
where  merit  can  win  its  way  self-sustained  and  indepen- 
dent, —  where,  without  the  indignity  of  a  patron,  the  path 
of  honorable  enterprise  lies  free  and  open  to  all !  What 
generous  promptings,  what  bold  aspirations  such  a  career 
engenders !  He  shall  not  be  ashamed  of  me,  —  he  shall 
not  have  to  blush  for  the  Dalton  blood,"  said  the  boy, 
enthusiastically ;    and   he    revelled   in   a  dream  of  the   old 


826  THE  DALTONS. 

Count's  ecstasy  on  finding  a  nephew  so  worthy  of  their 
name,  and  in  his  fancy  he  saw  pictures  of  future  scenes 
in  which  he  figured.  All  of  these  had  the  same  rose  tint; 
for  while  in  some  he  imagined  himself  winning  the  high 
rewards  of  great  achievements,  in  others  he  was  the 
caressed  and  flattered  guest  of  rank  and  beauty.  "  To 
think  that  I  should  once  have  been  thus ! "  cried  he, 
laughing  at  the  conceit,  "  trudging  along  the  high-road 
with  a  knapsack  on  my  shoulder,  like  a  Bursch  in  his 
'  Wander-jahre ;  '"  and  then  he  vowed  to  himself  that  "he 
would  have  a  picture  taken  of  his  humble  guise  as  first 
he  started  in  life,  to  hang  up  at  some  future  day  beside 
the  decorated  soldier  he  was  yet  to  be." 

Selfishness  can  wear  many  a  mask.  Sometimes  it  can 
array  itself  in  features  almost  noble,  —  more  often  its  traits 
are  of  the  very  meanest.  Frank's  egotism  was  of  the 
former  kind.  He  wanted  to  attain  distinction  by  an 
honorable  path,  —  he  would  not  have  stooped  to  any  othei'. 
He  wa's  ready  to  do  or  dare  all  for  greatness.  No  peril 
could  deter,  no  danger  could  daunt  him ;  but  yet  was  he 
totally  deficient  in  that  greatest  element  of  success,  —  that 
patient  discipline  of  the  mind  which,  made  up  of  humility 
and  confidence,  can  wait  and  bide  its  time,  earning  the 
prizes  of  life  before  it  claim  them.  His  pride  of  family, 
however,  was  his  greatest  blemish,  since  it  suggested  a 
false  notion  of  distinction,  —  a  pretension  so  groundless 
that,  like  a  forged  banknote,  it  was  sure  to  involve  even 
the  bearer  in   disgrace. 

So  full  was  he  of  himself  and  his  own  future,  that  he 
took  but  little  note  of  the  way  as  he  went.  Avoiding,  from 
a  sense  of  pride,  to  associate  with  the  "  Travelling  Youths," 
as  they  are  called,  he  walked  along  from  early  morning  to 
late  evening,  alone  and  companionless.  It  was  mostly  a 
dreary  and  uninteresting  road,  either  leading  through  dark 
and  gloomy  pine  forests  or  over  great  plains  of  swampy 
surface,  where  the  stubble  of  the  tall  maize,  or  the  stunted 
vines,  were  the  only  traces  of  vegetation.  As  he  drew  near 
the  Tyrol,  however,  the  great  mountains  came  in  sight, 
while  the  continual  ascent  told  that  he  was  gradually 
reaching  the  land  of  glaciers  and  snow-peaks.     Day  by  day 


FRANK'S  JOURNEY.  327 

he  found  the  road  less  and  less  frequented :  these  lonely 
districts  were  little  resorted  to  by  the  wandering  appren- 
tices, so  that  frequently  Frank  did  not  meet  a  single  travel- 
ler from  day-dawn  till  night.  Perhaps  he  felt  little  regret 
at  this,  leaving  him,  as  it  did,  more  time  for  those  da^'- 
dreams  in  which  he  loved  to  revel.  Now  and  then  some 
giant  mountain  glittering  in  the  sun,  or  some  dark  gorge 
thousands  of  feet  below  him,  would  chase  away  his  revery, 
and  leave  him  for  a  time  in  a  half-bewildered  and  wonder- 
ing astonishment ;  but  his  thoughts  soon  resumed  their  old 
track,  and  he  would  plod  along,  staff  in  hand,  as  before. 

Walking  from  before  daybreak  to  a  late  hour  of  the  even- 
ing, Frank  frequently  accomplished  in  his  day's  journey  as 
many  miles  as  the  traveller  who,  by  post,  only  spent  the  few 
hours  of  mid-day  on  the  road ;  in  fact,  he  might  have  thus 
measured  his  speed,  had  he  been  less  wrapped  up  in  his  own 
fancies,  since,  for  several  days,,  a  caliche,  drawn  by  three 
post-horses,  had  regularly  passed  him  on  the  road,  and  al- 
ways about  the  same  hour. 

Frank  saw  nothing  of  this;  and  when  on  a  bright  and 
frosty  day  he  began  the  ascent  of  the  Arlberg,  he  little  knew 
that  the  carriage,  about  half  a  mile  in  front,  had  been  his 
travelling  companion  for  the  past  week.  Disdaining  to 
follow  .the  winding  high-road,  Frank  ascended  by  those 
foot-tracks  which  gain  upon  the  zig-zags,  and  thus  soon 
was  miles  in  advance  of  the  caleche.  At  last  he  reached 
the  half-way  point  of  ascent,  and  was  glad  to  rest  himself 
for  a  few  minutes  on  one  of  the  benches  which  German 
thoughtfulness  for  the  wayfarer  never  neglects  to  place  in 
suitable  spots.'  .A  low  parapet  of  a  couple  of  feet  sep- 
arated the  road  from  a  deep  and  almost  perpendicular 
precipice,  at  the  foot  of  which,  above  two  thousand  feet 
beneath,  stood  the  village  of  Stuben.  There  was  the  little 
chapel  in  which  he  had  his  morning's  mass,  —  there  the  little 
Platz,  where  he  had  seen  the  post-horses  getting  ready  for 
the  travellers ;  there,  too,  the  little  fountain,  covered  with 
a  shed  of  straw,  and  glistening  with  many  an  icicle  in  the 
bright  sun.  The  very  voices  of  the  people  reached  him 
where  he  sat;  and  the  sounds  of  a  street-organ  floated 
upwards  through  the  still  atmosphere.     It  was  a  scene  of 


828  THE   DALTONS. 

peaceful  isolation  such  as  would  have  pleased  Nelly's  fancy. 
It  was  like  one  of  those  ''Dorfs"  she  herself  had  often 
carved  to  amuse  a  winter's  evening,  and  Frank's  eyes  filled 
up  as  he  thought  of  her  and  of  home. 

The  sound  of  feet  upon  the  snow  suddenly  roused  him, 
and,  on  looking  round,  Frank  saw  a  traveller  slowly  com- 
»  ing  up  the  pass.  His  dress  at  once  proclaimed  that  he  was 
not  a  pedestrian,  save  from  choice,  and  was  merely  saunter- 
ing along  in  advance  of  his  carriage.  In  the  mere  cursory 
glance  Frank  bestowed  upon  him  he  could  see  that  he  was 
a  young  and  handsome  man,  with  a  certain  soldierlike  bear- 
ing in  his  air  that  well  suited  his  bold  but  somewhat  stern 
features. 

"  You  journey  well,  young  fellow,"  said  he,  addressing 
Frank  familiarly.  "This  is  the  fifth  day  we  have  been 
fellow-travellers ;  and  although  I  have  post-horses,  you  have 
always  kept  up  with  me  on  your  feet." 

Frank  touched  his  cap  with  a  somewhat  stiff  courtesy  at 
this  unceremonious  address ;  and,  without  deigning  a  reply, 
employed  himself  in  arranging  the  straps  of  his  knapsack. 

"Are  you  a  soldier?"  asked  the  stranger. 

"  A  cadet!  "  replied  Frank  as  blnntl}'. 

"  In  what  regiment,  may  I  ask?  " 

"  The  Franz  Carl." 

"Ah!  my  own  old  corps,"  said  the  other,  gayly.  "I 
served  four  years  with  them  in  the  Banat.  From  what 
part  of  the  Empire  are  you  —  you  have  n't  the  accent  of  an 
Austrian  ?  " 

"  I  am  an  Irishman." 

"  Oh  !  that  explains  it.     And  your  name?/' 

"  Dalton.  And  now,  sir,  what  may  be  j^ours,  for  I  don't 
see  why  this  curiosity  is  to  be  one-sided,"  said  Frank,  with 
an  air  even  more  insolent  than  the  words. 

"  I  am  Count  Ernest  of  Walstein,"  said  the  other,  with- 
out a  touch  of  irritation. 

"What  rank  do  you  hold  in  the  service?"  asked  Frank, 
boldly. 

"That  of  lieutenant-colonel,  boy." 

"And  your  age  may  be  about  thirty?"  said  Frank,  half 
in  question  and  half  in  sarcasm. 


FRANK'S  JOURNEY.  329 

"  I  was  twenty-eight  last  August,"  was  the  calm  reply. 

"  By  Jove !  that  is  a  service !  "  exclaimed  Frank,  "  where 
a  man  scarcely  ten  years  my  senior  may  command  a 
regiment !  " 

The  other  laughed,  and  after  a  brief  pause,  said,  "  People 
are  in  the  habit  of  calling  me  fortunate,  so  that  you  must 
not  suppose  my  case  to  be  the  rule." 

"  Be  it  so :  even  as  an  exception,  the  example  is  a  bright 
one.     Another  may  do  what  you  have  done." 

"  If  you  mean  that  I  have  earned  my  rank  by  services, 
boy,"  said  the  Count,  smiling,  "you  would  make  a  grave 
mistake.     My  promotion  had  another  source." 

Frank  looked  as  though  he  were  curious  to  hear  the 
explanation,  but  the  other  gave  none. 

"  How  do  you  call  yourself?  "  asked  he  of  Frank,  after  a 
pause. 

"  Dalton,"  replied  the  boy,  more  respectfully  than  before. 

"  We  have  a  field-marshal  of  that  name  in  the  service,  —  a 
most  gallant  old  soldier,  too." 

"My  grand-uncle!"  cried  Frank,  with  enthusiasm. 

"  Indeed !  So  you  are  a  grand-nephew  to  the  Graf  von 
Auersberg,"  said  the  Count,  taking  a  more  deliberate  view 
than  he  had  yet  bestowed  upon  him.  "  Then  how  comes  it 
you  are  travelling  in  this  fashion,  and  on  foot?" 

"  I  have  not  asked  you  why  you  journey  in  a  caliche  with 
three  horses,"  said  Frank,  insolently. 

"  It's  my  habit  to  do  so." 

"This,  then,  may  be  mine,  sir,"  said  Frank,  throwing  his 
knapsack  on  his  shoulder,  and  preparing  to  depart. 

"  Is  not  the  Franz  Carl  at  Vienna?"  said  the  Count,  not 
seeming  to  notice  the  irritation  of  his  manner. 

"  I  believe  so." 

"  Well,  then,  as  I  am  going  thither,  perhaps  you  will 
accept  of  a  seat  in  my  caleche?" 

There  was  a  frankness  in  the  way  this  offer  was  made 
that  suddenly  routed  the  ill-temper  Frank  had  fallen  into. 
No  one  was  less  disposed  than  himself  to  accept  of  a  favor 
from  a  perfect  stranger;  but  the  tone  and  manner  of  the 
proffer  had,  somehow,  disarmed  it  of  all  appearance  of  such  ; 
and  as  he  stood  uncertain  what  answer  to  make,  the  Count 


330  THE  DALTONS. 

added :  *'  I  'm  always  lucky.  I  was  just  wishing  for  a 
travelling  companion,  and  fortune  has  thrown  us  into 
acquaintanceship." 

"I  don't  know  —  I  cdn  scarcely  tell,"  said  Frank,  hesita- 
ting, "  how  or  what  to  answer." 

"  You  forget  that  we  are  comrades,  Dalton  —  or  shall  be, 
at  least,  in  another  day  or  two,"  said  the  Count,  familiarly ; 
**  so  step  in,  and  no  more  about  it." 

The  caliche  had  drawn  up  as  he  spoke,  and  the  courier 
stood,  cap  in  hand,  beside  the  door,  so  that  Frank  had  no 
time  for  any  but  an  abrupt  refusal,  and  that  he  could  not 
give;  he  therefore  bowed  his  head,  and  sprang  in.  The 
door  Mas  slammed  sharply  to,  and  the  next  moment  the 
horses  were  rattling  along  over  the  snow,  the  merry  bells  of 
the  harness  jingling  pleasantly  as  they  went. 

Probably  no  two  beings  could  present  a  much  stronger 
contrast  than  the  two  who  now  journe3'ed  along  side  by  side. 
The  one,  rich,  highly  placed,  and  distinguished  with  every 
gift  of  fortune  at  his  command,  and  yet  pleasure-sick,  weary, 
and  discontented ;  the  other,  poor,  and  almost  friendless, 
full  of  hope,  and  ardent  with  all  the  buoyancy  of  youth. 
The  Count  was  as  jaded  and  tired  of  life  as  the  cadet  was 
eager  to  enjoy  it.  Notwithstanding  —  perhaps  we  should 
rather  say  in  virtue  of  —  these  strong  contrarieties,  they 
made  admirable  travelling  companions,  and  the  road  slipped 
away  unconsciously  to  each. 

At  Innspruck  they  halted  for  a  day  or  two,  and  Frank 
accompanied  his  new  friend  to  the  cafes  and  theatres,  ming- 
ling in  the  throng  of  those  whose  life  is  a  round  of  easy  dis- 
sipation. It  is  true  that,  to  conform  by  dress  and  demeanor 
with  these,  Frank  was  obliged  to  spend  the  golden  coins  of 
Nelly's  purse ;  louis  after  louis  went  in  some  one  extrava- 
gance or'  another,  —  sacrifices  that  cost  him  many  a  pang, 
but  which,  from  pride,  he  bore  up  against  with  seeming 
indifference.  Walstein  presented  him  everywhere  as  the 
nephew  of  the  old  field-marshal  Von  Auersberg ;  and  as 
nothing  was  more  common  than  to  see  a  young  cadet  dis- 
pensing the  most  lavish  sums,  with  equipages,  liveries,  and 
servants,  none  seemed  surprised  that  the  youth  should 
indulge  in  these  habits  and   tastes  of  extravagance.     His 


FRANK'S  JOURNEY.  331 

very  enjoyment  seemed  like  an  earnest  of  being  long  habitu- 
ated to  these  modes  of  life,  for  whether  he  played  or  drank, 
or  in  whatever  excesses  he  mingled,  there  was  ever  the  same 
joyous  spirit ;  and  Frank  Dalton  had  all  the  outward  signs 
of  a  youth  rich  in  every  accident  of  fortune.  At  first, 
thoughts  of  his  humble  home  and  of  those  by  whose  sacri- 
fices he  was  enabled  to  indulge  in  such  costly  pleasures 
would  cross  his  mind,  and,  what  between  shame  and  sorrow, 
he  felt  degraded  and  debased  before  himself;  but,  by 
degrees,  the  levity  of  action  induced,  as  it  ever  will  do,  the 
levity  of  thinking ;  and  he  suffered  himself  to  believe  that 
"  he  was  no  worse  than  others."  A  more  fatal  philosophy 
than  this,  youth  never  adopted,  and  he  who  seeks  a  low 
standard  rarely  stops  till  he  falls  beneath  even  that. 
Frank's  pride  of  family  made  him  vain,  and  his  vanity 
made  him  credulous ;  he  therefore  implicitly  believed  all  that 
his  new  companions  told  him,  the  familiar  "  thee  and  thou" 
of  camaraderie  giving  an  air  of  friendship  to  all  the 
flatteries. 

"Were  I  a  nephew  of  a  field-marshal  like  thee,  I'd  not 
serve  in  an  infantry  corps.  I  'd  be  in  the  Lichtenstein 
Hussars  or  the  Lancers  of  the  Kaiser,"  said  one. 

"So  he  will,"  cried  another.  "Dalton  only  joined  the 
Franz  Carl  to  get  his  promotion  quickly.  Once  at  Vienna, 
he  will  be  an  officer,  and  ready  to  exchange  his  regiment." 

"  Old  Auersberg  can  make  thee  what  he  will,  lad,"  said  a 
third.  "  He  might  have  been  Minister  of  War  himself,  if  he 
had  liked  it.     The  Emperor  Franz  loved  him  as  a  brother." 

"  And  he  is  rich,  too,  no  one  knows  how  rich,"  broke  in 
a  fourth.  "  He  commanded  for  many  years  on  the  Turkish 
frontier,  in  those  good  days  when  our  Grenzers  used  to  make 
forays  upon  the  villages,  and  every  Pashalic  paid  its  black- 
mail for  peace'  sake." 

"'Thou  are  a  lucky  dog,  Dalton,  to  find  thy  promotion 
and  an  inheritance  thus  secured  to  thee." 

"  When  thou  has  a  regiment,  lad,  don't  forget  ns  poor 
devils  here,  that  have  no  uncles  in  the  '  Maria  Teresa ' 
category." 

"  I  'd  lay  my  life  on't,  that  he  is  a  colonel  before  I  be- 
come  Rittmeister,"  said  a  young  lieutenant  of   dragoons. 


332  THE  DALTONS. 

"and  I  have  had  five  years'  hard  sei*viee  in  Galicia  and 
Servia." 

"And  why  not?"  broke  in  Count  "Walstein,  who  sat 
silently  up  to  this  smoking  his  meerschaum  in  a  corner. 
"Has  the  empire  lost  its  aristocratic  character?  Are  not 
birth  and  blood  to  have  their  claims,  as  of  old  ?  " 

This  speech  met  a  ready  acceptance,  for  the  company 
consisted  of  those  who  either  were,  or  affected  to  be,  of 
noble  extraction. 

"  How  our  fathers  deceive  themselves  in  trying  to  deceive 
us!  "  said  a  young  Hungarian  cadet.  "  I,  too,  was  sent  off 
to  join  my  regiment  on  foot.  Just  fancy  —  to  walk  from 
Arad  to  Presburg !  I,  that  never  went  twenty  miles  in  m^' 
life  save  on  the  saddle.  They  fitted  me  with  my  knapsack, 
—  just  such  a  thing  as  Dalton's.  I  suppose  about  as  many 
florins  jingled  in  my  purse  as  in  his.  They  gave  me  their 
blessing  and  a  map  of  the  road,  with  each  day's  journey 
marked  out  upon  it.  And  how  far  did  I  go  afoot,  thiuk'st 
thou?  —  Two  miles  and  a  half.  There  I  took  an  '  Eil  Bauer,* 
with  four  good  horses  and  a  wicker  calsche,  and  we  drove  our 
sixty,  sometimes  seventy  miles  a  day.  Each  night  we  put 
up  at  some  good  country  house  or  other  —  Honyadi's  — 
Ctzyscheny's  —  Palfi's  ;  all  lay  on  the  road,  and  I  found  out 
about  fifty  cousins  I  never  knew  of  before,  and  made  a 
capital  acquaintance,  too,  the  Prince  Paul  of  Ettlingen,  who, 
owning  a  regiment  of  Light  Dragoons,  took  me  into  his 
corps,  and,  when  I  joined  them  at  Leutmeritz,  I  was  already 
an  officer.  What  stuff  it  is  they  preach  about  economy  and 
thrift!  Are  we  the  sons  of  peasants  or  petty  shopkeepers? 
It  comes  well,  too,  from  them  in  their  princely  chateaux  to 
tell  us  that  we  must  live  like  common  soldiers.  So  that, 
while  yesterday,  as  it  were,  I  sat  at  a  table  covered  with 
silver,  and  drank  my  Tokay  from  a  Venetian  glass,  to- 
morrow I  must  put  up  with  sour  Melniker,  or,  mayhap. 
Bavarian  beer,  with  black  bread,  and  a  sausage  to  help  it 
down !  Our  worthy  progenitors  knew  better  in  their  own 
young  days,  or  we  should  not  have  so  many  debts  and 
mortgages  on  our  estates  —  eh,  Walstein  ?  " 

"  I  suppose  the  world  is  pretty  much  alike,  in  every 
age,"  said  the  Count,  laughing.     "It  now  and  then  takes 


FRANK'S  JOURNEY.  333 

a  virtuous  fit,  aud  affects  to  be  better  than  it  used  to  be ; 
but  I  shrewdly  suspect  that  the  ouly  difference  is  in  the 
hypocritical  pretension.  When  I  entered  ^he  service  —  and 
it  is  not  so  many  years  ago  that  I  cannot  recollect  it  — 
the  cant  was,  to  resemble  that  rough  school  of  the  days 
of  old  Frederick  and  Maria  Teresa.  Trenck's  '  Pandours,' 
with  their  scarlet  breeches  stuffed  into  their  wide  boot- 
tops,  were  the  mode ;  and  to  wear  your  moustache  to  your 
shoulders  —  to  cry  '  Bey'm  Henker !  '  and  '  AUe  Blitzen ! ' 
every  moment,  were  the  veritable  types  of  the  soldier.  Now 
we  have  changed  all  that.  We  have  the  Anglomania  of 
English  grooms  and  equipages,  top-boots,  curricles,  hurdle- 
races,  champagne  suppers.  Dalton  will  be  the  ton  in  his 
regiment,  and  any  extravagance  he  likes  to  launch  into 
certain  to  have  its  followers." 

The  youth  blushed  deeply;  partly  in  conscious  pride  at 
the  flattery,  partly  in  the  heartfelt  shame  at  its  inappro- 
priateness  to  himself;  and  even  the  sincerity  with  which 
his  comrades  drank  his  health,  could  not  drown  the  self- 
reproaches  he  was  suffering  under. 

"Thou  art  an  only  son,  too,  Dalton!"  said  another. 
"What  favors  fortune  will  shower  upon  one  happy  fellow! 
Here  I  am,  one  of  seven ;  and  although  my  father  is  a 
count  of  the  empire,  four  of  us  have  to  take  service  in 
the  infantry." 

"What  of  that?"  said  a  dark-complexioned  fellow, 
whose  high  cheek-bones  and  sharp  under-jaw  bespoke  a 
Pole.  "  I  am  a  second  lieutenant  in  the  regiment  that  my 
grandfather  raised  and  equipped  at  his  own  cost;  and  if 
I  were  to  lose  a  thousand  florins  at  lansquenet  to-morrow, 
I  'd  be  broke,  like  the  meanest  '  bursch '  in  the  corps." 

"It's  better  to  be  a  rich  Englander,"  cried  one. 

"  And  with  a  field-marshal  for  a  grand-uncle !  "  chimed 
in  another. 

"And  a  'Maria  Teresa'  to  ask  for  thy  grade  as  oflScer," 
said  a  third. 

"  It's  a  jolly  service  to  all  of  us,"  said  a  young  Bohe- 
mian, who,  although  but  a  cadet,  was  a  prince,  with  a 
princely  fortune.  "  I  ask  for  nothing  but  a  war  to  make 
it  the  best  life  going." 


334  THE  DALTONS. 

"A  war  with  whom?"   cried  several  together. 

"What  care  I  with  whom  or  where?  With  Prussia,  if 
you  will,  to  fight  out  our  old  scores  about  Fraucouia ;  with 
Russia,  if  you  like  better,  for  the  Dauubian  provinces,  aud 
her  Servian  supremacy  ;  with  France  —  she  's  always  ready, 
with  a  cause  or  without  one ;  with  Italy  —  to  round  off 
our  frontier,  and  push  our  limits  to  the  Apennines ;  I  'd 
say  with  England,  only  Dalton  might  n't  like  it." 

"And  where  would  you  pick  your  quarrel  with  Eng- 
land ? "   said  Frank,  laughing. 

"Easily  enough,  —  through  our  ambassador  at  the 
Porte,  or  some  outlying  station,  where  Russia  is  her 
rival." 

"  Hang  your  politics  !  "  broke  in  a  Hungarian.  "  Let  us 
fight  when  the  time  comes,  but  not  bother  our  heads  about 
tlie  cause.  I  'd  rather  take  my  chance  of  a  sabre-cut  any 
day  than  addle  my  brains  with  too  much  thought.  Here 's 
to  you,  Dalton,  —  mayst  soon  be  a  Rittmeister  of  Hussars, 
lad ;    a  prouder  thing  thou  needst  not  ask  for." 

"Thou  shalt  give  us  a  jolly  supper  at  tlie  '  Sehwan,' 
Dalton,  when  we  meet  at  Vienna,"  said  another. 

"And  we'll  pledge  those  fair  sisters  of  thine  — and 
they  're  both  handsome,  I  '11  be  sworn  —  in  the  best  Tokay 
Palfi's  vineyard  can  yield." 

"My  regiment  will  be  in  garrison,  in  the  Leopoldstadt, 
next  month,  and  I  '11  remind  thee  of  this  pledge." 

"And  we  shall  be  at  Lintz,"  broke  in  another;  "and 
thou  mayst  reckon  on  me,  if  I  have  to  suffer  an  arrest  for 
it  afterwards." 

"So  it  is  agreed,  Dalton,  we  are  thy  guests.  For  what 
day  shall  it  be?" 

"Ay,  let  us  name  the  day,"  cried  several  together 

"  When  he  is  named  an  officer,"  said  Walstein,  "  that 
will  be  time  enough." 

"  Nay,  nay  —  the  day  month  after  be  arrives  at  Vienna," 
cried  the  Bohemian.  "  I  have  given  three  breakfasts  and 
five  suppers  on  the  occasion  of  my  promotion,  and  the 
promotion  has  never  come  yet." 

"The  day  month  after  I  arrive,  then,  be  it,"  said  Dalton. 
"We  meet  at  —  where  is  it?  " 


FRANK'S  JOURNEY.  335 

"The  '  Schwan,'  lad, — the  first  restaurant  of  Europe. 
Let  men  talk  as  they  will  of  the  Cadran  Bleu  and  the  Trois 
Freres,  I'd  back  Hetziuger's  cook  against  the  world ;  and 
as  for  wine,  he  has  Steinkammer  at  thirty  florins  the  flask! 
And  we'll  drink  it,  too, — eh,  Dalton?  and  we'll  give  a 
'  Hoch  Lebe  '  to  that  old  grandfather  or  grand-uncle  of 
thine.     We'll  add  ten  years. to  his  life." 

"A  poor  service  to  Dalton,"  said  another;  "but  here 
comes  Walstein's  horses,  and  now  for  the  last  glass  together 
before  we  part." 

The  parting  seemed,  indeed,  to  be  "sweet  sorrow,"  for 
each  leave-taking  led  to  one  flask  more,  friendship  itself 
appearing  to  make  wondrous  progress  as  the  bottle  went 
round.  The  third  call  of  the  postilion's  bugle  —  a  summons 
that  even  German  loyalty  could  scarcely  have  courage  to 
resist  —  at  last  cut  short  the  festivities,  and  Frank  once 
more  found  himself  in  the  caleche,  where  at  least  a  dozen 
hands  contested  for  the  last  shake  of  his,  and  a  shower 
of  good  wishes  mingled  with  the  sounds  of  the  crashing 
wheels. 

"  Glorious  fellows !  "  cried  Dalton,  in  an  ecstasy  of 
delight;  "such  comrades  are  like  brothers." 

Walstein  smiled  at  the  boy's  enthusiasm,  and  lighted  his 
meerschaum  in  silence;  and  thus  they  journeyed,  each  too 
full  of  his  own  thoughts  to  care  for  converse.  It  was  not 
at  such  a  moment  that  Dalton  could  give  way  to  dark  or 
serious  reflections;  the  blandishments  and  caresses  of  his 
new  friends  were  too  powerful  to  admit  of  any  rivalry  in 
his  mind;  and  even  when  he  did  revert  to  thoughts  of  home, 
it  was  to  picture  to  himself  his  father's  pride  at  seeing  him 
in  the  society  of  these  high-born  youths;  of  Kate's  delight 
at  the  degree  of  notice  he  attracted;  and  even  Nelly  — 
poor  Nelly!  —  he  fancied  yielding  a  gentle,  half- reluctant 
assent  to  a  companionship  which,  if  costly  and  expensive, 
was  sure  to  be  honorable  and  high-minded. 

"What  would  Hanserl  say,  too,"  thought  he,  "if  he  saw 
me  seated  at  the  table  with  those  whose  high-sounding 
names  are  the  pride  of  Austrian  chivalry,  —  the  Thuns, 
the  Lichtensteins,  the  Schwartenschilds,  and  the  Walsteins, 
—  families  old  as  the  Hapsburgs  themselves?    Little  Haa- 


836  THE  DALTONS. 

sell,  to  whom  these  glorious  families  were  the  great  lights 
of  history,  —  oh,  if  he  could  have  set  eyes  on  me  this  last 
evening!  when,  with  arms  around  my  neck,  they  called  me 
comrade !  "  From  this  he  wandered  on  to  thoughts  of  his 
uncle,  investing  the  old  field-marshal  with  every  noble  and 
soldierlike  atti'ibute,  and,  above  all,  fancying  him  as  over- 
flowing with  affection  and  kindness.  What  hosts  of  ques- 
tions did  he  ask  about  his  father  and  his  sisters ;  how  often 
had  he  to  repeat  their  names  and  paint  their  resemblances, 
going  over  the  most  minute  details  of  family  history,  and 
recounting  the  simplest  incidents  of  their  daily  life,  for 
"Uncle  Stephen  would  know  all." 

In  such  pleasant  fancies  he  fell  fast  asleep,  even  in  his 
dreams  to  carry  out  those  imaginings  that,  waking,  had  no 
control  of  reason. 

Frank  Dalton  was  awaked  from  a  sound  sleep  and  a  pleas- 
ant dream  of  home  by  the  hoarse  voice  of  a  mounted  dra- 
goon, ordering  the  postilion  to  halt;  and,  on  looking  out, 
he  saw  that  they  were  drawn  up  close  beside  the  angle  of 
the  great  wooden  bridge  that  crosses  the  Danube,  under  the 
walls  of  Vienna.  The  whole  scene  was  one  of  wonderment 
and  surprise  to  him.  At  his  feet,  as  it  were,  rolled  the 
stream  of  the  rapid  Danube;  its  impetuous  flood  splashing 
and  foaming  amid  the  fragments  of  ice  floated  down  from 
the  mountain  regions,  and  which  every  moment  were  shiv- 
ered against  the  stone  breakwaters  with  the  crash  of  thun- 
der. Beyond  the  river  rose  the  fortified  walls  of  the  city, 
covered  with  a  dense  multitude  of  people,  eager  spectators 
of  a  grand  military  display,  which,  with  all  the  pomp  of 
war,  poured  forth  beneath  the  dark  archway  of  the  entrance- 
gate,  and,  winding  over  the  "glacis,"  crossed  the  bridge, 
and  held  on  its  course  towards  the  Prater. 

It  was  a  clear,  bright  day  of  winter;  the  blue  sky  almost 
cloudless,  and  the  sharp  outline  of  every  object  stood  out, 
crisp  and  well  defined,  in  the  thin  atmosphere.  Nothing 
could  be  more  favorable  for  the  effect  of  such  a  spectacle. 
The  bright  weapons  glanced  and  glittered  like  silver,  the 
gay  trappings  and  brilliant  uniforms  showed  in  all  their 
splendor,  the  scarlet  Lancers,  the  blue-clad  Hussars,  the 
Cuirassiers,  with   their  towering   helmets,  vied  with  each 


FRANK'S  JOURNEY.  337 

other  in  soldierlike  bearing;  while  the  dense  mass  of 
infantry  moved  along  with  a  surging,  waving  motion,  like 
a  vast  sea  heaving  with  a  ground-swell.  It  was  an  army 
complete  in  every  detail;  for,  even  to  the  "ambulances" 
for  the  wounded,  everything  was  there. 

"A  review  by  the  Emperor!  "  said  Walstein;  "and  see, 
there  comes  his  stafif."  And  he  pointed  to  a  group  of  horse- 
men, whose  waving  plumes  and  floating  dolmans  were  seen 
at  a  little  distance  off  in  the  plain. 

"Oh,  let  us  follow  them!"  cried  Frank,  enthusiastically. 
"Such  a  glorious  sight  as  this  I  never  even  imagined." 

"You  '11  see  enough,  — perhaps  too  many  such,"  said  the 
Count,  languidly.  "It's  a  favorite  pastime  of  our  old 
General's  to  drag  us  out  of  quarters  in  the  very  depth  of 
winter,  and  spend  a  day  in  the  snow  of  the  Prater." 

"Who  could  have  a  thought  for  weather  or  hardship  Avhen 
engaged  in  such  a  scene?  "  said  Frank. 

"So,  evidently,  think  those  worthy  field-marshals  and 
generals  of  division,  who,  well  mounted,  and  swathed  in 
furs,  canter  down  to  the  ground,  an  hour  after  we  have 
reached  it,  and  ride  back  again  when  they  have  '  taken  the 
salute,'  leaving  us  to  plod  wearily  home,  through  wet  roads 
and  sloppy  streets,  to  our  cold  barracks.  But  just  the 
i-everse  is  the  opinion  of  those  poor  fellows  yonder,  with 
blue  faces  and  frostbitten  knuckles,  and  who  have  neither 
pride  in  this  display,  nor  sympathy  with  the  success  of 
what  is  called  '  a  fine  manoeuvre.'  " 

Frank  shook  his  head  distrustfully.  He  wished  not  to 
credit  the  opinion,  but  knew  not  how  to  refute  it,  and  was 
silent. 

"That  is  the  'Franz  Carl,'  Dalton,"  said  Walstein, 
pointing  to  a  column  of  infantrj',  who,  in  their  dark  gray 
overcoats,  seemed  a  sad-looking,  gloomy  mass.  "They've 
got  the  best  band  and  the  most  savage  colonel  in  the 
service." 

Frank  gazed  at  the  regiment  with  a  strange  sensation  of 
awe  and  fear. 

"There  lies  my  destiny!  "  thought  he.  "Who  knows  what 
friendships  or  enmities  await  me  yonder?  What  hearts  in 
that  dark  mass  will  beat  responsively  with  my  own ;  what 
vox,.  I.  —  22 


338  THE  DALTONS. 

sources  of  sorrow  or  affliction  may  I  meet  with  amongst 
them ! " 

"I  wish  thou  hadst  a  better  regiment,  Dal  ton,"  said 
Walstein. 

"How  a  better?  Is  it  not  a  brave  and  distinguished 
corps  ?  " 

"Brave  enough,"  said  the  other,  laughing;  "and  as  for 
distinction,  an  Archduke  owns  and  commands  it.  But  that 
is  not  what  I  mean.  The  regiment  is  a  poor  one;  the  offi- 
cers are  from  Upper  Austria,  with  little  or  no  fortune,  — 
fellows  who  dine  for  a  zwanziger,  play  dominos  for  two 
kreutzers,  waltz  at  the  wine-gardens,  and  fight  duels  with 
sabres." 

Frank  laughed  at  the  description ;  but  his  laugh  had  more 
of  gloom  than  mirth  about  it,  for  he  felt  at  every  moment 
the  false  position  he  occupied,  and  how  inextricably  com- 
plicated his  circumstances  were  becoming.  Every  allusion 
to  others  showed  him  in  what  light  he  was  himself  regarded. 
"Was  his  deception  honorable?  —  was  it  possible  to  con- 
tinue it?  "  were  the  questions  that  would  obtrude  upon  him, 
and  for  which  no  ingenuity  could  find  answer. 

"There  's  the  corps  for  you,  Dal  ton,"  said  Walstein, 
drawing  his  attention  to  the  "Hungarian  Guard,"  all  glit- 
tering with  gold  embroidery,  and  mounted  upon  the  most 
beautiful  white  chargers,  —  at  once  the  most  perfect  riders 
and  the  best  mounted  cavalry  in  Europe.  "In  that  regi- 
ment you  are  certain  of  being  quartered  either  here  or  in 
Prague.  Those  laced  jackets  are  too  costly  wear  to  send 
down  to  the  Banat,  or  among  the  wilds  of  Wallachia. 
Besides,  the  Empress  likes  to  see  these  gaudy  fellows  on 
their  '  schimmels  '  beneath  the  Palace  windows.  Your  uncle 
will,  of  course,  grumble  a  little  about  the  cost.  Perhaps 
your  father,  too,  will  look  a  little  grave  when  he  hears  of 
six  thousand  florins  for  a  '  dolman,'  and  four  for  a  '  scha- 
brach;'  while  ten  or  twelve  horses  —  the  very  least  you 
could  keep  —  would  scarcely  sound  like  a  moderate  stable. 
Still,  depend  upon  it,  the  corps  is  as  good  for  service  as  it 
is  costly,  and  Creptowitz,  their  Colonel,  is  a  true  hussar." 

For  a  moment  Dalton  hesitated  whether  he  should  not 
make  the  honest  avowal  of  his  narrow  fortune,  and  tell  that 


FRANK'S  JOURNEY.  889 

he  had  no  pretension  to  such  habits  of  cost  and  expense; 
but  shame  was  too  powerful  to  permit  the  acknowledgment. 
He  had  already  gone  too  far  to  retract,  and  he  felt  that  any 
candor  now  would  be  the  confession  of  a  cheat.  If  these 
were  harassing  and  torturing  reflections,  one  flickering  ray 
of  hope  still  glimmered  through  the  gloom;  and  this  was, 
what  he  might  expect  from  his  uncle.  "If  he  be  really  rich, 
as  they  say,"  thought  Frank,  — "if  his  favor  be  so  great 
with  the  Emperor,  —  even  such  a  career  as  this  may  not  be 
above  my  prospects."  As  he  revolved  these  thoughts,  he 
sat  with  his  head  buried  between  his  hands,  forgetful  of 
where  he  was  and  all  around  him. 

"You  're  losing  everything,  Dalton,"  said  Walstein. 
"See,  there  go  the  '  Kaiser  Jagers,'  with  their  bugles,  the 
finest  in  the  service;  and  yonder  are  the  Lichtenstein  'Light 
Horse,'  mounted  on  thorough- bred  cattle;  and  there,  to  the 
left,  those  savage-looking  fellows  with  long  beards,  they 
are  the  '  Croat  Grenadiers.'  But  here  comes  the  Emperor!  " 
And,  as  he  spoke,  one  deafening  cheer  burst  forth  along 
the  line,  and  was  echoed  back  from  the  walls  of  Vienna; 
while  every  band  struck  up  the  national  hymn  of  Austria, 
and  the  proud  notes  of  "God  preserve  the  Emperor!  "  floated 
through  the  air. 

A  brilliant  staff  of  generals  of  every  arm  of  the  service 
accompanied  "the  Kaiser;"  and  Walstein  ran  quickly  over 
the  names  of  these,  many  of  whom  were  among  the  first 
nobility  of  the  Empire.  Some  were  the  war-worn  veterans 
of  the  great  campaigns;  some  the  young  hopes  of  Austrian 
chivalry;  but,  conspicuous  above  all,  was  a  figure  whose 
stature,  as  well  as  the  singularity  of  his  uniform,  attracted 
Frank's  notice.  He  was  a  very  tall  old  man,  dressed  in  a 
uniform  of  purple  velvet  slashed  with  gold,  and  actually 
covered  with  the  crosses  and  decorations  of  various  orders. 
His  cap  was  a  tall  chako  of  red-brown  fur,  from  which  a 
long,  straight  scarlet  plume  floated,  and  beneath  which  his 
gray  hair  was  fastened  in  a  queue,  that  hung  half-way  down 
his  back.  Yellow  buskins  ornamented  with  massive  gold 
spurs  completed  a  costume  which  seemed  almost  a  com- 
promise between  the  present  and  some  bygone  age. 

The  figure  of  the  wearer,  too,  suited  well  this  impression. 


840  THE   DALTONS. 

There  was  a  stern  rigidity  of  look  as  he  sat  still  and  motion- 
less in  his  saddle,  which  relaxed  into  the  polished  urbanity 
of  an  old  courtier  as  often  as  the  Emperor  addressed  him. 
"When  bowing  to  the  mane  of  his  charger,  he  seemed  the 
very  type  of  courtesy;  while,  as  he  retired  his  horse,  there 
was  all  the  address  and  ease  of  a  practised  rider. 

"There,  to  the  left  of  Walmoden,  on  the  powerful  black 
horse,  do  you  see  that  handsome  old  man  in  the  purple 
tunic?"  said  Waldstein. 

"I  have  been  watching  him  for  several  minutes  back," 
replied  Frank.     "What  a  singular  uniform!  " 

"Yes.  It  was  the  dress  of  the  Artillery  of  the  Imperial 
Guard  in  the  days  of  Wagram  and  Lobau ;  and  he  is  per- 
mitted to  retain  it,  by  a  special  leave  of  the  Emperor,  —  a 
favor  he  only  avails  himself  of  on  occasions  like  the 
present." 

"What  a  mass  of  orders  he  wears!  " 

"He  has  all  that  the  Empire  can  bestow,  from  the  '  Iron 
Cross  '  to  the  '  Maria  Teresa.'  He  has  the  '  Legion  of 
Honor,'  too,  sent  him  by  Napoleon  himself!  It  was  that 
officer  who  at  Elchingen  rode  up  to  the  head  of  a  French 
column,  and  told  them  that  the  wagons  they  were  pursuing 
were  the  '  ammunition  of  the  rear-guard ! '  'If  you  advance,' 
said  he,  '  we  '11  fire  them,  and  blow  you  and  ourselves  to 
atoms!'  The  coolness  and  heroism  of  the  daring  were 
well  acknowledged  by  a  brave  enemy.  The  French  halted, 
and  our  train  proceeded  on  its  way.  Mayhap  you  have 
heard  the  anecdote  before  ?  " 

"Never,"  said  Frank,  still  gazing  with  admiration  at  the 
old  soldier. 

"Then  I  may  as  well  tell  you  that  he  is  the  Count  Dalton 
von  Auersberg,"  said  Walstein,  lying  back  to  enjoy  the 
youth's  amazement. 

"What!  Uncle  Stephen?  —  Is  that  our  uncle?"  burst 
out  Frank,  in  delight. 

"I  wish  I  could  call  him  '  ours,'  with  all  my  heart,"  said 
Walstein,  laughing.  "Any  man  might  well  be  proud  of 
such  a  relative." 

But  Frank  never  heard  or  heeded  the  remark ;  his  whole 
Boul  was  wrapped  up  in  the  contemplation  of  the  old  field- 


FRANK'S  JOURNEY.  841 

marshal,  on  whom  he  gazed  as  a  devotee  might  have  done 
upon  his  saint. 

"He 's  like  my  father,"  muttered  Frank,  half  aloud;  "but 
haughtier-looking,  and  older.  A  true  Dalton  in  every  fea- 
ture !  How  I  long  to  speak  to  him,  —  to  tell  him  who  I 
am." 

"Not  here,  though, — not  here!"  said  Walstein,  laying 
his  hand  on  the  youth's  arm ;  for  he  almost  feared  lest  he 
should  give  way  to  the  sudden  impulse.  "  Were  you  even 
the  Colonel  of  your  regiment,  you  could  not  approach  him 
now." 

Frank  stared  with  some  surprise  at  a  remark  which 
seemed  to  treat  so  slightingly  the  ties  of  blood  and  kindred; 
while  Walstein,  by  no  means  easy  on  the  score  of  his  com- 
panion's prudence,  gave  the  word  to  the  postilion  to  drive 
on;  and  they  entered  the  city  of  Vienna. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

THE   THREAT    OF    "a   SLIGHT   EMBARRASSMENT." 

The  Mazzarini  Palace  was  now  a  proverb  for  all  that  was 
dissipated  and  extravagant  throughout  Florence,  and  in 
proportion  as  the  society  which  frequented  it  was  select  and 
few  in  number,  the  more  absurd  were  the  rumors  that  went 
abroad  of  its  dissipations  and  excesses.  In  default  of  a 
real,  good,  tangible  scandal  the  world  invented  a  thousand 
shadowy  little  slanders,  that,  if  not  as  deadly  to  reputation 
at  once,  were  just  as  certain  to  kill  character  in  the  long 
run. 

Sir  Stafford's  gout,  of  which  he  was  confined  to  his  bed 
or  a  sofa,  was  pronounced  the  lingering  agonies  of  a  broken 
heart.  "My  Lady's"  late  dinners  were  orgies  where  every 
licentiousness  held  sway.  George  was  a  reckless  gambler, 
who  had  already  jeopardized  all  the  wealth  of  his  family; 
and,  as  for  Kate,  she  was  at  the  mercy  of  that  amiable 
temperament  of  the  human  mind  which  always  believes  the 
worst,  and  as  constantly  draws  the  darkest  inference  from 
its  belief. 

Now,  Sir  Stafford  was  very  gouty,  very  irritable,  and 
very  unhappy  to  boot,  about  a  number  of  matters,  which, 
however  deeply  interesting  to  himself,  should  have  had  no 
concern  for  the  world.  My  Lady  did  dine  at  eleven  o'clock 
at  night,  and  the  company  was  assuredly  not  that  from 
which  a  discriminating  public  would  have  selected  arch- 
bishops, or  even  minor  canons,  consisting  for  the  most 
part  of  that  class  of  which  we  have  already  made  mention 
in  a  former  chapter,  with  now  and  then  some  passer- 
through  of  rank,  or  some  stray  diplomate  on  his  way  to  or 
from  his  post.  George  Onslow  was  a  large  loser  at  play, 
but  without  having  recourse  to  those  stratagems  for  pay- 


THE  THREAT  OF  "A  SLIGHT  EMBARRASSMENT."      343 

ment  which  were  so  generally  ascribed  to  him.  While  Kate 
—  poor  Kate  —  was  neither  better  nor  worse  than  the  reader 
has  hitherto  known  her. 

We  do  not  in  this  admission  seek  to  conceal  the  fact  that 
she  was  very  different  from  what  first  we  saw  her.  Society 
had  taught  her  tact,  grace,  and  elegance  of  deportment. 
Admiration  had  rendered  her  —  yes,  we  say  it  advisedly  — 
admiration  had  rendered  her  very  attractive,  drawing  forth 
a  thousand  resources  of  fascination,  and  a  thousand  arts  of 
pleasing,  that  often  wither  and  die  in  the  cold  chill  of  neg- 
lect. The  most  fastidious  critic  could  not  have  detected  a 
fault  in  her  manner;  an  ill-natured  one  might  have  objected 
to  what  seemed  an  excess  of  gracefulness ;  but  even  this  was 
relieved  by  a  youthful  freshness  and  buoyancy  of  tempera- 
ment, the  last — the  very  last  remnant  of  her  former  self. 

She  was  the  belle  of  Florence.  Her  sovereignty  admitted 
of  nothing  like  a  rival.  Whether  she  drove,  or  rode,  or 
danced,  or  walked,  the  same  admiring  throng  surrounded 
her;  some  sincere  in  all  their  admiration,  others  but  follow- 
ing the  lead  which  fashion  took,  and  others,  again,  watchful 
observers  of  a  manner  in  which  they  fancied  they  could 
trace  the  settled  plan  of  a  daring  and  ambitious  character. 
Vanity  had  been  the  foible  of  her  childish  years;  it  was 
now  the  vice  of  her  womanhood.  Lady  Hester  ministered 
to  this  failing  in  a  hundred  ways.  Liking  Kate  as  well  as 
it  was  possible  for  her  to  like  anything,  she  took  an  intense 
pleasure  in  all  the  admiration  she  met  with. 

As  an  actor  is  said  to  "create  the  part "  which  is  written 
for  him,  when  he  impresses  the  personation  with  traits 
peculiarly  his  own,  so  did  she  fancy  that  Kate  was  but  a 
reflected  image  of  all  her  own  graces  and  fascinations ;  and 
probably  the  proudest  days  of  her  own  triumphs  never 
yielded  more  enjoyment  than  she  now  felt  in  the  flattering 
praises  bestowed  upon  Kate  Dalton. 

There  were  good-natured  people  who  said  that  Lady  Hes- 
ter's admiration  had  another  source,  and  that,  as  a  some- 
what passee  beauty,  she  knew  the  full  value  of  a  younger 
and  handsomer  woman  in  attracting  to  her  circle  and 
society  all  that  was  distinguished  by  rank  or  station.  We 
are  not  prepared  to  deny  some  force  to  this  argument,  but, 


344  THE  DALTONS. 

assuredly,  it  had  less  weight  than  other  reasons.  Lady 
Hester's  own  claims,  besides,  were  higher  than  these  detrac- 
tors admitted.  She  was,  although  not  very  young,  still 
very  handsome,  her  rank  and  wealth  both  considerable,  and 
her  manner  the  perfection  of  that  school  to  which  she 
belonged.  If  her  affection  for  Kate  was  only  another  form 
of  selfishness,  it  was  not  the  less  strong  on  that  account. 
She  was  the  confidante  of  her  sorrows,  —  by  no  means  a 
sinecure  office;  the  chief  counsellor  in  all  her  plans;  she 
was  the  lay-figure  on  which  she  experimented  a  hundred 
devices  in  costume  and  toilet;  and  lastly,  — greatest  charm 
of  all,  —  she  was  a  dependant.  Not,  indeed,  that  Kate  her- 
self so  understood  her  position ;  pride  of  family,  the  Dalton 
heritage,  was  too  powerful  in  her  to  admit  of  this.  Deeply, 
sincerely  grateful  she  was  for  all  Lady  Hester's  kindness; 
her  affection  she  returned  tenfold,  but  no  sense  of  inferi- 
ority mingled  with  this  feeling,  save  that  which  arose  from 
her  own  devoted  admiration  of  her  friend. 

The  homage  amid  which  she  passed  her  life,  the  unceas- 
ing flow  of  flatteries  around  her,  were  not  very  likely  to 
undeceive  her  on  this  point.  A  more  respectful  devotion 
could  not  have  waited  on  a  princess  of  the  royal  house. 
The  great  Midchekoflf  gave  balls  in  her  honor.  The  Arab 
horses  of  Treviliani  were  all  placed  at  her  disposal.  The 
various  visits  to  objects  of  curiosity  or  taste  were  arranged 
for  her  pleasure,  and  nothing  omitted  that  could  tend  to 
stimulate  her  vanity  and  heighten  her  self-esteem. 

The  utmost  we  can  say  for  her  all  this  while  is,  that  if 
she  was  carried  away  by  the  excitement  of  this  adulation, 
yet,  in  her  heart,  she  was  as  little  corrupted  as  was  well 
possible.  She  could  not  be  other  than  enamored  of  a  life 
so  unchanging  in  its  happiness,  nor  could  she  disconnect 
the  enjoyments  around  her  from  the  possession  of  great 
wealth.  She  thought  of  what  she  had  been  a  few  months 
back:  the  "same  Kate  Dalton,"  braving  the  snows  of  a 
dark  German  winter,  with  threadbare  cloak  and  peasant 
"sabots,"  an  object  of  admiration  to  none  except  poor 
Hanserl,  perhaps!  And  yet  now,  unchanged,  unaltered, 
save  in  what  gold  can  change,  how  different  was  her  posi- 
tion I     It  had  been  well  if  her  love  of  splendor  had  stopped 


THE  THREAT  OF  "A  SLIGHT  EMBARRASSMENT."      345 

here.  It  went  further,  however,  and  inspired  a  perfect 
dread  of  humble  fortune. 

Over  and  over  again  did  she  hear  disparaging  remarks 
bestowed  upon  the  striving  efforts  of  "respectable  poverty," 
its  contrivances  derided,  its  little  straits  held  up  to  ridicule. 
In  dress,  equipage,  or  household,  whatever  it  did  was  certain 
to  be  absurd ;  and  yet  all  of  these  people,  so  laughed  at  and 
scorned,  were  in  the  enjoyment  of  means  far  above  her  own 
father's ! 

What  a  false  position  was  this !  How  full  of  deceit  must 
she  become  to  sustain  it !  She  invoked  all  her  sophistry  to 
assure  herself  that  their  condition  was  a  mere  passing  state ; 
that  at  some  future  —  perhaps  not  even  a  remote  one  —  they 
should  have  "  their  own  again ;  "  and  that  as  in  family  and 
descent  they  were  the  equals  of  any,  so  they  were  not  infe- 
rior in  all  the  just  claims  to  consideration  and  respect. 
She  tried  to  think  of  her  father  and  Nelly  moving  in  the 
circles  she  now  lived  in ;  but,  even  alone,  and  in  the  secrecy 
of  her  own  thoughts,  her  cheek  became  scarlet  with  shame, 
and  she  actually  shuddered  at  the  very  notion.  And  even 
Frank,  her  once  ideal  of  all  that  was  graceful  and  noble- 
looking,  how  would  he  pass  muster  beside  these  essenced 
"fashionables"  who  now  surrounded  her!  She  endeavored 
to  console  herself  by  thinking  that  her  father  would  have 
despised  the  lounging,  unmanly  lives  they  led,  that  Ellen 
would  have  retired  in  bashful  modesty  from  a  society  whose 
tone  of  freedom  and  license  would  have  shocked  her,  and 
that  Frank  would  have  found  no  companionship  in  a  class 
whose  pleasures  lay  only  in  dissipation ;  and  yet  all  her 
casuistry  could  not  reassure  her.  The  fascinations  amid 
which  she  lived  were  stronger  than  her  reason. 

She  became  first  aware  of  the  great  change  in  herself  on 
recognizing  how  differently  a  letter  from  home  affected  her 
to  what  it  had  done  some  months  before.  At  first  she 
would  have  hastened  to  her  room,  and  locked  the  door,  in 
an  ecstasy  of  delight  to  be  alone  with  dearest  Nelly,  —  to 
commune  with  her  own  sweet  sister  in  secret,  —  to  hang  on 
every  line,  every  word,  with  delight,  fancying  herself  once 
more  with  arms  clasped  around  her,  or  bending  down  beside 
her  cheek  as  she  leaned  over  her  work-table.     How  every 


346  THE  DALTOXS. 

little  detail  would  move  her ;  how  every  allusion  would  bring 
up  home  before  her,  —  the  suug  little  chamber  of  an  evening, 
as  the  bright  fire  glowed  on  the  hearth,  and  Nelly  brought 
out  her  tools  for  modelling,  while  Hanserl  was  searching  for 
some  passage,  a  line,  or  a  description  that  Nelly  wanted ; 
and  then  the  little  discussions  that  would  ensue  as  to  the 
shape  of  some  weapon,  or  the  fashion  of  some  costume  of  a 
past  age,  so  often  broken  in  upon  by  her  father,  whose 
drolleries  would  set  them  laughing ! 

With  what  interest,  too,  she  would  follow  each  trifling 
occurrence  of  their  daily  life ;  the  progress  Nelly  was  mak- 
ing in  her  last  group ;  its  difficulties  how  would  she  ponder 
over,  and  wonder  how  to  meet  them !  With  what  eager 
curiosity  would  she  read  the  commonest  details  of  the  house- 
hold, the  dreary  burden  of  a  winter's  tale !  and  how  her 
heart  bounded  to  hear  of  Frank  —  the  soldier  —  although  all 
the  tidings  were  that  he  was  with  his  regiment,  but  "spoke 
little  of  himself  or  the  service." 

Now,  however,  the  glow  of  delight  which  a  letter  used  to 
bring  up  was  changed  for  a  deep  blush  of  anxiety  and 
shame,  —  anxiety,  she  knew  not  wherefore  or  how ;  of 
shame,  because  Nelly's  writing  on  the  address  was  quaint 
and  old-fashioned ;  while  the  paper  and  the  seal  bespoke  the 
very  lowliest  acquaintance  with  epistolary  elegance.  The 
letter  she  used  to  grasp  at  with  a  high-beating  heart  she  now 
clutched  with  greater  eagerness,  but  in  terror  lest  others 
should  see  and  mark  its  vulgar  exterior! 

How  differently,  too,  did  the  contents  affect  her !  So  long 
as  they  referred  to  herself,  in  her  own  latest  narrative  of 
her  life,  she  read  with  avidity  and  pleasure.  Nelly's  inno- 
cent wonderment  was  a  very  delightful  sensation  ;  her  aflfec- 
tionate  participation  in  her  happiness  was  all  grateful; 
even  her  gentle  warnings  against  the  seductions  of  such 
a  career  were  not  unpleasing ;  but  the  subject  changed 
to  home,  and  what  an  alteration  came  over  her  spirit! 
How  dark  and  dismal  became  the  picture,  —  how  poverty- 
stricken  each  incident  and  event,  what  littleness  in  every  de- 
tail,—  how  insignificant  the  occupations  that  interested  them ! 

How  great  the  surprise  she  felt  at  their  interest  in  such 
trifles ;    how  astonished  that  their  hopes   and    fears,   their 


THE  THREAT  OF  "A* SLIGHT  EMBARRASSMENT."     347 

wishes  or  their  dreads,  could  take  so  mean  a  form !  This 
came  with  peculiar  force  before  her,  from  a  paragraph  that 
closed  Nelly's  last  letter,  and  which  ran  thus :  — 

"  Think  of  our  happiness,  dearest  Kate  1  We  have  just  seen  one 
who  saw  you  lately,  —  one  of  your  Florence  acquaintances ;  and  1 
beUeve  1  might  go  further  and  say  friends,  for  the  terms  in  which 
he  spoke  of  you  evinced  sincere  and  true  regard.  It  was  so  kind  of 
him  to  find  us  out,  just  to  come  and  tell  us  about  you;  indeed,  he 
remained  a  day  here  for  no  other  purpose,  since  his  diplomatic 
duties  were  urging  him  to  England  with  speed." 

When  Kate  had  read  thus  far,  she  stopped,  her  face  and 
neck  crimson  with  shame,  and  her  heart  beating  almost 
audibly.  With  lightning  rapidity  she  ran  over  to  herself 
three  or  four  names  of  ministers  and  envoys  who  had  lately 
left  Florence,  trembling  to  think  it  might  be  the  gorgeous 
Russian,  Naradskoi,  the  princely  Neapolitan,  Cainporese, 
or  the  haughty  Spaniard,  Don  Hernandez  Orloes,  who  had 
visited  their  humble  interior.  What  a  humiliation  for  her, 
if  she  were  ever  to  see  them  again  !  Home,  at  that  instant, 
presented  itself  before  her  but  as  the  witness  of  her  shame : 
how  sordid  and  miserable  did  its  poverty  appear,  and  with 
what  vulgarity  associated !  Her  poor  old  father,  around 
whose  neck  but  a  moment  before  she  would  have  hung  with 
rapture,  she  shrank  from  with  very  terror :  his  dress,  his 
look,  his  accent — every  word  he  spoke,  every  allusion  he 
made,  were  tortures  to  her ;  and  Nelly  —  even  Nelly  —  how 
she  blushed  to  fancy  her  humble  guise  and  poor  exterior ; 
the  little  dress  of  colored  wool,  from  the  pockets  of  which 
her  carving-tools  appeared;  and  then  how  the  scene  rose 
before  her!  —  her  father  producing  Nelly's  last  work,  some 
little  group  in  clay  or  wood.  She  pictured  to  herself  his 
pride,  —  her  sister's  bashf ulness,  —  the  stranger's  pretended 
admiration !  Till  now,  these  emotions  had  never  seen  a 
counterfeit.  Oh,  how  she  shuddered  as  her  thoughts  took 
more  and  more  the  colors  of  reality,  and  the  room  itself. 
and  its  poverty-struck  furniture,  rose  before  her !  At  last 
she  read  on  :  — 

"  His  visit  was  of  course  a  great  honor,  and  probably,  had  he 
come  on  any  other  errand  but  to  speak  of  you,  we  should  have  been 
half  overwhelmed  with  the  condescension  ;  but  in  very  truth,  Rate, 


848  THE  DALTONS. 

I  quite  forgot  all  his  greatness  and  his  grandeur,  and  lost  sight  of 
his  ever  holding  any  higher  mission  than  to  bring  news  of  my  dear- 
est sister.  Papa,  of  course,  asked  him  to  dinner.  1  believe  he 
would  have  invited  the  Czar  himself  under  like  circumstances  ;  but, 
fortunately  fpr  us,  for  him,  and  perhaps  for  you  too,  he  was  too  deaf 
to  hear  the  request,  and  politely  answered  that  he  would  send  my 
letter  to  you  with  pleasure,  under  his  own  diplomatic  seal ;  and  so  we 
parted.  1  ought  to  add  that  Mr.  Foglass  intends  speedily  to  return 
to  Florence." 

Three  or  four  times  did  Kate  read  this  name  over  before 
she  could  persuade  herself  that  she  had  it  aright.  Foglass ! 
she  had  never  even  heard  of  him.  The  name  was  remark- 
able enough  to  remember,  as  belonging  to  a  person  of 
diplomatic  rank,  and  yet  it  was  quite  new  to  her.  She 
turned  to  Lady  Hester's  invitation  book,  but  no  such  name 
was  there.  What  form  her  doubts  might  have  taken  there 
is  no  knowing,  when  Mr.  Albert  Jekyl  was  seen  to  cross 
the  courtyard,  and  enter  the  house. 

Knowing  that  if  any  could,  he  would  be  the  person 
to  resolve  the  difficulty,  she  hastened  downstairs  to  meet 
him. 

"  Mr.  Jekyl,"  cried  she,  hurriedly,  "  is  there  such  a  man 
as  Mr.  Foglass  in  this  breathing  world  of  ours?  " 

"  Of  course  there  is.  Miss  Dalton,"  said  he,  smiling  at  her 
eagerness. 

"  A  minister  or  an  envoy  at  some  court?  " 

"Not  that  I  have  ever  heard,"  repeated  he,  with  a  more 
dubious  smile. 

"  Well,  a  secretary  of  embassy,  perhaps?  —  something  of 
that  kind?  Who  is  he?  —  what  is  he?  —  where  does  he 
belong  to  ?  " 

"You  mean  Bob,  Miss  Dalton,"  said  he,  at  once  puffing 
out  his  cheeks  and  running  his  hand  through  his  hair,  till 
it  became  a  very  good  resemblance  of  the  ex-Consul's  wig, 
while,  by  a  slight  adjustment  of  his  waistcoat,  he  imitated 
the  pretentious  presence  of  the  mock  royalty.  "'You 
mean  Bob,  madam,'  "  said  he,  mimicking  his  measui-ed 
intonation  and  pompous  tone,  —  "  '  Old  Fogey,  as  Mathews 
always  called  me.  Mathews  and  I  and  Townsend  were 
always  together,  —  dined  at  Greenwich  every  Sunday  regu- 


THE  THREAT  OF  "A  SLIGHT  EMBARRASSMENT."      349 

iarly.  What  nights  they  were!  Flows  of  reason,  and 
feasts  of — eh?  —  yes,  that's  what  they  were.'" 

"I  must  remind  you  that  I  never  saw  him,"  said  she, 
laughing;  "though  I'm  certain,  if  I  should  hereafter,  it 
will  not  be  very  hard  to  recognize  him.     Now,  who  is  he  ?  " 

"He  himself  says,  a  grandson  of  George  the  Fourth. 
Less  interested  biographers  call  him  a  son  of  Foglass  and 
Crattles,  who,  I  believe,  were  not  even  coachmakers  to 
royalty.  He  was  a  consul  at  Ezmeroum,  or  some  such 
place.  At  least,  they  showed  him  the  name  on  a  map, 
and  bade  him  find  it  out;  but  he  found  out  something 
more,  it  seems,  —  that  there  was  neither  pay  nor  perquisites, 
neither  passports  nor  peculation ;  and  he  has  brought  back 
his  wisdom  once  again  to  besiege  the  Foreign  Office.  But 
how  do  you  happen  to  ask  about  him  ?  " 

"  Some  of  my  friends  met  him  in  Germany,"  said  she, 
hesitatingly.  She  might  have  blushed,  had  Jekyl  looked 
at  her;  but  he  knew  better,  and  took  pains  to  bestow  his 
glances  in  another  direction. 

"  It  would  be  kind  to  tell  them  that  the  man  is  a  most 
prying,  inquisitive  sort  of  creature,  who,  if  he  only  had  the 
sense  of  hearing,  would  be  as  mischievous  as  Purvis." 

"  I  fancy  they  will  see  but  little  of  him,"  said  she,  with 
a  saucy  toss  of  the  head.  "He  made  their  acquaintance 
by  affecting  to  know  me.  I  'm  sure  I  've  no  recollection  of 
having  ever  seen  him." 

"  Of  course  you  never  knew  him.  Miss  Dal  ton  !  "  replied 
he,  with  a  subdued  horror  in  his  voice  as  he  spoke. 

"  A  letter  for  you.  Mademoiselle,"  said  the  servant  to 
Kate;   "and  the  man  waits  for  an  answer." 

Kate  broke  the  seal  with  some  trepidation.  She  had  no 
correspondents  nearer  than  her  home,  and  wondered  what 
this  might  mean.  It  was  in  a  strange  commotion  of  spirit 
that  she  read  the  following  lines  :  — 

"  Mrs.  Montague  Ricketts  presents  her  respectful  compliments  to 
Miss  Dalton,  and  begs  to  know  at  what  hour  to-day  Mrs.  M.  R.  may 
wait  upon  Miss  D.,  to  present  a  letter  which  has  been  committed  to 
Mrs.  R.'s  hands  for  personal  delivery.  It  may  secure  an  earlier 
hour  of  audience  if  Mrs.  R.  mentions  that  the  precious  document  is 
from  Miss  D.'s  father." 


850  THE  DALTONS. 

What  could  this  possibly  mean?  It  was  but  that  very 
same  day  the  post  brought  her  a  letter  from  Nelly.  Why 
had  not  her  father  said  what  he  wished  to  say,  in  that? 
What  need  of  this  roundabout,  mysterious  mode  of 
communicating  ? 

The  sight  of  the  servant  still  in  waiting  for  the  answer 
recalled  her  from  these  cross-questionings,  and  she  hurried 
away  to  consult  Lady  Hester  about  the  reply. 

"It's  very  shocking,  my  dear  child,"  said  she,  as  she 
listened  to  the  explanation.  "The  Ricketts,  they  tell  me, 
is  something  too  dreadful;  and  we  have  escaped  her 
hitherto.     You  could  n't  be  ill,  could  you  ?  " 

"But the  letter?"  said  Kate,  half  smiling,  half  provoked. 

"  Oh,  to  be  sure  —  the  letter !  But  Buccellini,  you 
know,  might  take  the  letter,  and  leave  it,  with  unbroken 
seal,  near  you ;  you  could  read  it  just  as  well.  I  'm  sure  I 
read  everything  Sir  Stafford  said  in  his  without  ever  opening 
it.  You  saw  that  yourself,  Kate,  or,  with  your  scepticism, 
I  suppose,  you  'd  not  believe  it,  for  you  are  very  sceptical ; 
it  is  your  fault  of  faults,  my  dear.  D'Esmonde  almost 
shed  tears  about  it,  the  other  day.  He  told  me  that  you 
actually  refused  to  believe  in  the  Madonna  della  Torre, 
although  he  showed  you  the  phial  with  the  tears  in  it !  " 

"  I  only  said  that  I  had  not  seen  the  Virgin  shed  them," 
said  Kate. 

"True,  child!  but  you  saw  the  tears;  and  you  heard 
D'Esmonde  remark,  that  when  you  saw  the  garden  of  a 
morning,  all  soaked  with  wet,  the  trees  and  flowers  drip- 
ping, you  never  doubted  that  it  had  rained  during  the 
night,  although  you  might  not  have  been  awake  to  hear 
or  see  it." 

Kate  was  silent;  not  that  she  was  unprepared  with  an 
answer,  but  dreaded  to  prolong  a  discussion  so  remote  from 
the  object  of  her  visit. 

"  Now,  Protestant  that  I  am,"  said  Lady  Hester,  with 
the  triumphant  tone  of  one  who  rose  above  all  the  slavery 
of  prejudice,  —  "  Protestant  that  I  am,  I  believe  in  the 
'  Torre.'  The  real  distinction  to  make  is,  between  what  is 
above,  and  what  is  contrary  to,  reason,  Kate.  Do  you 
understand  me,  child  ?  " 


THE  THREAT  OF  "A  SLIGHT  EMBARRASSMENT."      351 

"I'm  sure  Mrs.  Ricketts's  visit  must  be  both,"  Kate 
said,  adroitly  bringing  back  the  original  theme. 

"Very  true;  and  I  was  forgetting  the  dear  woman  alto- 
gether. I  suppose  you  must  receive  her,  Kate ;  there 's  no 
help  for  it!  Say  three  o'clock,  and  I'll  sit  in  the  small 
drawing-room,  and,  with  the  gallery  and  the  library  be- 
tween us,  I  shall  not  hear  her  dreadful  voice." 

"Has  she  such?"    asked  Kate,  innocently. 

"I'm  sure  I  don't  know,"  said  Lady  Hester,  pettishly; 
"but  of  course  she  has!  Those  dreadful  people  always 
have!  Make  the  visit  as  brief  as  possible,  Kate.  Let  it 
not  be  a  pretext  for  anything  after.  Use  3'our  eyeglass  on 
every  occasion,  so  that  you  can  be  short-sighted  enough 
never  to  know  her  again.  I  have  seen  you  very  supercili- 
ous at  times,  child,  —  it  is  precisely  the  manner  for  this 
interview.  It  was  really  very  wrong  of  your  papa  to  write 
in  this  fashion  ;  or  your  sister,  or  whoever  it  was.  Nobody 
thinks  of  anything  but  the  post,  nowadays.  Pray  tell  them 
so ;  say  it  makes  me  quite  nervous ;  you  see  I  ain  nervous 
to-day!  There,  there!  I  don't  want  to  fret  you,  child  — 
but  everything  has  gone  wrong  to-day.  Midchekofif  has 
given  away  his  box,  and  I  have  promised  mine  to  the  Luc- 
chesini;  and  that  blond  flounce  is  much  too  narrow,  so 
Celestine  tells  me ;  but  I  'm  sure  she  has  cut  a  piece  off  it 
to  make  a  '  berthe '  for  herself.  And  then  the  flowers  are 
positively  odious.  They  are  crimson,  instead  of  cherry- 
color,  although  I  told  Jekyl  twice  over  they  ought  to  be 
the  very  tint  of  Lady  Melgund's  nose !  There,  now ;  good- 
bye. Remember  all  I've  been  saying,  and  don't  forget 
that  this  is  a  '  giorno  infelice,'  and  everything  one  does 
will  prove  unlucky.  I  hope  D'Esmonde  will  not  come  to- 
day. I  'm  really  not  equal  to  controversy  this  morning. 
I  should  like  to  see  Buccellini,  however,  and  have  a  glob- 
ule of  the  Elj'sian  essence. ,  Bye-bye ;  do  think  better  about 
the  '  Madonna  della  Torre,'  and  get  rid  of  that  odious 
Ricketts  affair  as  speedily  as  may  be." 

With  these  injunctions,  Kate  withdrew  to  indite  her  reply 
to  Mrs.  Ricketts,  appointing  three  o  'clock  on  that  same 
afternoon  for  a  visit,  which  she  assuredly  looked  forward 
to  with  more  of  curiosity  than  pleasure. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

A    CONVIVIAL    EVENING. 

It  18  not  necessary  that  the  reader  should  participate  in 
Kate  Dalton's  raystifieatiou  regarding  her  father's  letter, 
that  document  being  simply  a  piece  of  Ricketts  strategy, 
and  obtained  to  secure  an  admission  to  the  Mazzarini  Pal- 
ace, which,  notwithstanding  Lord  Norwood's  assurances, 
still  ren-ained  an  impregnable  fortress  to  all  her  assaults. 

Foglass  was  then  commissioned  to  induce  Mr.  Dalton  to 
write  something,  —  anything,  to  his  daughter,  to  be  trans- 
mitted under  the  Embassy  seal, — a  magnificent  mode  of 
conveyance,  which  was  reason  enough  to  call  into  exercise 
those  powers  of  penmanship  which,  since  he  had  ceased  to 
issue  promissory  notes,  had  lain  in  the  very  rustiest  state 
of  disuse.  The  command  to  obtain  this  credential  reached 
Foglass  just  as  he  was  about  to  start  from  Baden;  but 
being  desirous,  for  various  little  social  reasons,  to  concili- 
ate the  Ricketts's  esteem,  he  at  once  altered  his  arrange- 
ments, and  feigning  a  sudden  attack  of  gout,  —  a  right 
royal  malady  —  he  took  himself  to  bed,  and  sent  a  few 
lines  to  Dalton,  detailing  his  misfortune,  and  entreating  a 
visit. 

Never  backward  in  the  cause  of  good-nature,  poor  Dal- 
ton sallied  forth  at  night,  and  notwithstanding  the  cutting 
blasts  of  a  north  wind,  and  the  sharp  driftings  of  the  half- 
frozen  snow,  held  on  his  way  to  the  "  Russie,"  where,  in 
a  very  humble  chamber  for  so  distinguished  a  guest,  lay 
Mr.  Foglass  in  the  mock  agonies  of  gout. 

"How  devilish  kind  of  you, — how  very  considerate!" 
said  Foglass,  as  he  gave  one  finger  of  his  hand  to  shake. 
"  So  like  poor  Townsend  this,  — Lord  Tom,  we  used  to  call 
him.     Not  wet,  though,  I  hope?" 


A  CONVIVIAL   EVENING.  853 

"  And  if  I  was,  it  would  n't  be  the  first  time.  But  how 
are  you  yourself,  —  where  is  the  pain  ?  " 

"You  must  speak  louder;  there's  a  kind  of  damper  on 
the  voice  in  this  room." 

"  Where  's  the  pain?  "  screamed  Dalton. 

"There  —  there  —  no  need  to  roar,"  whispered  the  other. 
"The  pain  is  here  —  over  the  stomach,  round  the  ribs,  the 
back  —  everywhere." 

"Ah,  I  know  it  well,"  said  Dalton,  with  a  wry  contortion 
of  the  face.  "It's  the  devil  entirely  when  it  gets  under 
the  short  ribs !  It  begins  like  a  rat  nibbling  you,  as  it 
might  be,  biting  away  little  bits,  with  now  and  then  a  big 
slice  that  makes  you  sing  out ;  and  then  the  teeth  begin  to 
get  hot,  and  he  bites  quicker,  and  tears  you  besides,  —  sure 
I  know  it,  this  many  a  year." 

To  this  description,  of  which  Foglass  heard  nothing,  he 
bowed  blandly,  and  made  a  sign  to  Dalton  to  be  seated 
near  him. 

"  You'd  like  a  little  wine- and- water,  I'm  sure,"  said  he, 
with  the  air  of  a  man  who  rarely  figured  as  a  host,  and 
liked  it  more  rarely  still. 

"  Spirits-and-water  —  boiling  water  —  with  sugar  and  a 
squeeze  of  lemon,  is  what  I  '11  take ;  and  see  now,  you  'd 
not  be  worse  of  the  same  yourself.  I  've  an  elegant  receipt 
for  the  gout,  but  whether  it 's  sulphur  or  saltpetre 's  in  it,  I 
■don't  well  remember ;  but  I  know  you  mix  it  with  treacle, 
ash-bark,  and  earthworms,  the  yolk  of  four  eggs,  and  a 
little  rosemary.  But  as  you  might  n't  like  the  taste  of  it 
at  first,  we  '11  just  begin  with  a  jug  of  punch." 

The  waiter  had  by  this  time  made  his  appearance,  and 
the  order  being  communicated  by  a  most  expressive  pan- 
tomime of  drinking,  and  a  few  solitary  words  of  German 
Dalton  possessed,  the  room  assumed  a  look  of  sociality,  to 
which  Dalton's  presence  very  mainly  contributed. 

In  the  confidence  such  a  moment  of  secrecy  suggested, 
Foglass  produced  an  ear-trumpet,  —  a  mark  of  the  most  un- 
bounded good  faith  on  his  part,  and  which,  had  Dalton 
known  him  better,  he  would  have  construed  into  a  proof 
of  implicit  reliance  on  his  honor. 

"I've   been   many   years   at   Constantinople,"    said   he, 

VOL.  1,-23 


354  THE  DALTONS. 

adjusting  the  instrument,  "  and  the  confounded  muezzin 
has  made  me  a  little  deaf.  It's  an  everlasting  calling  to 
prayers,   day  and  night,  there." 

"  How  they  ever  expect  to  get  to  heaven  by  tormentin', 
and  teasin',  is  more  than  I  know,"  said  Dalton. 

"  They  're  Mahomedans !  "  said  Foglass,  with  the  air  of  a 
man  uttering  a  profound  sentiment. 

"Ay,  to  be  sure,"  observed  Dalton;  "it's  not  like 
Christians.  Now,  is  it  true,  they  tell  me  they  never  eat 
salt  meat ! " 

"Never!" 

"  Think  of  that!  Not  a  bit  of  corned  beef,  nor  as  much 
as  a  leg  of  pork  —  " 

"  Would  n't  hear  of  it,"  interrupted  Foglass.  "  Wine,  too, 
is  forbidden." 

"  And  punch?  " 

"  Of  course,  punch  also.  A  pipe,  a  cup  of  coffee,  the 
bath,  and  a  little  opium  are  the  luxuries  of  Turkish 
existence." 

"  To  the  devil  I  fling  them  all  four,"  cried  Dalton, 
impatiently.  "  How  a  man  is  to  be  social  beside  a  coffee- 
pot, or  up  to  his  neck  in  hot  water,  beats  me  entirely. 
Faix !  I  don't  envy  the  Turks !  "  And  he  sipped  his 
glass  as  he  spoke,  like  one  who  had  fallen  upon  a  happier 
destiny. 

"  If  you  '11  mix  me  a  very  small  glass  of  that  punch,  I'd 
like  to  propose  a  toast,"  said  Foglass. 

"There,  now,  that's  spoke  like  a  sensible  man;  pleasant 
company  and  social  enjoyment  are  the  greatest  enemies  to 
the  gout.  Make  your  mind  easy,  and  keep  your  heart 
light,  and  the  devil  a  fear  but  your  knees  will  get  limber, 
and  the  swellin'  will  leave  your  ankles ;  but  weak  punch 
and  tiresome  people  would  undhermine  the  best  constitu- 
tion in  the  world.     Taste  that." 

To  judge  from  Mr.  Foglass's  face,  Dalton  had  at  least 
provided  one  element  of  health  for  his  companion. 

"It  is  very  strong  —  very  strong,  indeed!"  said  he, 
puckering  up  his  eyes. 

"It's  the  fault  of  the  water  hereabouts,"  said  Dalton. 
"  It  does  n't  mix  right  with  the  spirits ;    so  that  one  half 


A  CONVIVIAL  EVENING. 


355 


—  the  first,  generally  —  of  your  liquor  tastes  stiff,  but  the 
bottom  is  mild  as  milk." 

The  explanation  gave  such  encouragement  to  Foglass, 
that  he  drank  away  freely,  and  it  was  only  when  he  had 
finished  that  he  remembered  his  intention  of  giving  a  toast. 


"  Now,  Mr.  Dalton,"  said  he,  as  he  sat  up  with  a  replen- 
ished glass  in  his  hand,  "  I  am  going  to  redeem  my  pledge, 
and  about  to  give  you  the  health  of  the  most  beautiful  girl  in 
Italy,  —  one  whose  attractions  are  the  theme  of  every  tongue, 
and  whose  ambitions  may  realize  any  height,  or  attain  any 
eminence,  that  she  pleases." 


356  THE  DALTONS. 

*'  Here  's  to  you,  Kate  Dalton,"  broke  in  the  father,  "  my 
own  sweet  child ;  and  if  you  only  come  back  to  me  as  you 
went  away,  the  sorrow  better  I  ask,  or  grander." 

"She  will  be  a  duchess;  she  may  be  a  princess  if  she 
likes." 

"Who  knows  —  who  knows?"  said  Dalton,  as  he  hung 
down  his  head,  and  hammered  away  with  his  spoon  at  the 
sugar  in  his  glass. 

"  Every  one  knows,  every  one  sees  it,  Mr.  Dalton,"  said 
Foglass,  authoritatively.  "  From  the  Archduke  Ernest  of 
Austria  to  the  very  pages  of  the  court,  all  are  her  wor- 
shippers and  admirers.  She'll  come  back  to  you  with  a 
proud  name  and  a  high  coronet,  Mr.  Dalton." 

"The  devil  a  better  than  Dalton  ever  'twill  be!  that  I 
can  tell  you.  'T  is  n't  yesterday  we  took  it,  the  same  name ; 
there  's  stones  in  the  churchyard  of  Ballyhack  can  show  who 
we  are ;  and  if  she  married  the  —  the  —  God  forgive  me,  I 
was  going  to  say  the  Pope,  but  I  meaut  the  Grand  Turk  — 
she  would  n't  be  better  than  she  is  now,  as  Kate  Dalton." 

"  Not  better,  certainly,  but  in  a  more  exalted  rank,  in 
a  position  of  more  recognized  distinction,"  said  Foglass, 
blandly. 

"No;  nor  that  neither,"  cried  Dalton,  angrily.  "The 
Dal  tons  goes  back  to  the  ancient  times  of  all.  There 's 
one  of  our  name  in  the  Bible.  I  'm  not  sure  where,  but  I 
believe  it 's  in  the  Book  of  Kings,  or  maybe  the  Psalms ;  but 
wherever  it  is,  he  was  a  real  gentleman,  living  on  his  own 
estate,  with  his  liverj'-servants,  and  his  horses,  and  every- 
thing in  good  style  about  him ;  high  on  the  grand  jury,  — 
maybe  the  sheriff  of  the  county." 

Foglass,  who  had  followed  this  description  but  imperfectly, 
could  onl}'  bow  in  a  deep  acknowledgment  of  what  he  did 
not  understand. 

"The  man  that  marries  Kate  Dalton  isn't  doing  a  piece 
of  condescension,  anyhow  !  that  I  can  tell  him.  The  dirty 
acres  may  slip  away  from  us,  but  our  good  blood  won't." 

"No  man  has  a  higher  veneration  for  blood,  sir,"  said 
Foglass,  proudly;  "few  men  have  better  reason  for  the 
feeling." 

*'  Is  Fogies  an  old  stock?  "  asked  Dalton,  eagerly. 


A  CONVIVIAL  EVENING.  357 

*'  Foglass,  like  Fitzroy,  sii-,  may  mean  more  than  loyalty 
would  dare  to  avow.  My  father,  Mr.  Dalton —  But  this 
is  a  very  sad  theme  with  me,  let  us  change  it ;  let  us  drink 
to  a  better  feeling  in  our  native  land,  when  that  abominable 
statute  may  be  erased  from  our  code,  —  when  that  offspring  of 
suspicion  and  distrust  shall  no  longer  be  the  offence  and 
opprobrium  of  Englishmen.  Here  's  to  its  speedy  and  ever- 
lasting repeal !  " 

The  word  was  talismanic  to  Dalton,  connected,  as  it  was, 
in  his  mind  with  but  one  subject.  He  arose  at  once,  and 
holding  up  his  goblet  in  the  air,  cried  out,  — 

"Hip!  hip!  hurrah!  three  cheers  and  success  to  it! 
Repeal  forever !  " 

Foglass  echoed  the  sentiment  with  equal  enthusiasm,  and 
draining  his  glass  to  the  bottom,  exclaimed,  — 

"Thank  you,  Dalton!  thank  you ;  the  heartiness  of  that 
cheer  tells  me  we  are  friends ;  and  although  you  know  not 
what  my  feelings  are  —  indeed  none  can  —  you  can  execrate 
with  honest  indignation  those  hateful  unions !  " 

"Bad  luck  to  it!"  exclaimed  Dalton,  with  energy. 
"  We  never  had  grace  nor  luck  since  we  saw  it ! " 

"  Those  petty  German  sovereigns,  with  their  territories  the 
size  of  Hyde  Park !  "  said  Foglass,  with  intense  contempt. 

"Just  so.  The  Hessians!"  chimed  in  Dalton,  who  had 
a  faint  consciousness  that  the  other  was  alluding  to  the 
troops  of  the  Electorate,  once  quartered  in  Ireland. 

"  Let  us  change  the  topic,  Dalton,"  said  Foglass,  patheti- 
cally, as  he  wiped  his  brow  like  a  man  dispelling  a  dark 
train  of  thought.  "Here's  to  that  charming  young  lady  I 
saw  last  evening,  a  worthy  sister  of  the  beautiful  Miss 
Dalton." 

"A  better  child  never  breathed,"  said  Dalton,  drinking 
off  his  glass.  "My  own  poor  Nelly,"  muttered  he,  below 
his  breath,  "  't  is  better  than  handsome  ye  are,  —  true- 
hearted,  and  fond  of  your  old  father." 

"She  has  accomplishments,  sir,  that  would  realize  a 
fortune;  that  is,"  said  he,  perceiving  the  dark  cloud  that 
passed  over  Dalton's  features, — "that  is,  if  she  were  in 
a  rank  of  life  to  need  it." 

"Yes  —  very  true  —  just  so,"  stammered  out  Dalton,  not 


858  THE  DALTONS. 

quite  sure  how  to  accept  the  speech.  "'Tis  a  fiue  thing 
to  be  able  to  make  money,  —  not  that  it  was  ever  the  gift 
of  the  Daltons.  We  were  real  gentlemen  to  the  backbone ; 
and  there  was  n't  one  of  the  name  for  five  generations,  — 
barring  Stephen,  — that  could  earn  sixpence  if  he  was 
starving." 

"But  Stephen,  what  could  he  do?"  inquired  Foglass, 
curious  to  hear  of  this  singular  exception  to  the  family  rule. 

"He  took  to  soldiering  in  the  Austrian  army,  and  he  's 
a  field-marshal,  and  I  don't  know  what  more  beside,  this 
minute.     My  son  Frank  's  there  now." 

"And  likes  it?" 

"Troth,  he  does  n't  say  a  great  deal  about  that.  His 
letter  is  mighty  short,  and  tells  very  little  more  than  where 
he  's  quartered,  how  hard-worked  he  is,  and  that  he  never 
gets  a  minute  to  himself,  poor  fellow!  " 

"Miss  Kate,  then,  has  drawn  the  prize  in  the  lottery  of 
life  ?  "  said  Foglass,  who  was  anxious  to  bring  the  subject 
back  to  her. 

"Faix,  that's  as  it  may  be,"  said  the  other,  thoughtfully, 
"Her  letters  is  full  of  high  life  and  great  people,  grand 
dances  and  balls,  and  the  rest  of  it;  but  sure,  if  she  's  to 
come  back  here  again  and  live  at  home,  won't  it  come 
mighty  strange  to  her?" 

"But  in  Ireland,  when  you  return  there,  the  society,  I 
conclude,  is  very  good?"  asked  Foglass,  gradually  drawing 
him  on  to  revelations  of  his  future  intentions  and  plans. 

"Who  knows  if  I'll  ever  see  it  again?  The  estate  has 
left  us.  'T  is  them  Onslows  has  it  now.  It  might  be  in 
worse  hands,  no  doubt;  but  they  've  no  more  right  to  it 
than  you  have." 

"No  right  to  it,  —  how  do  you  mean?  " 

"I  mean  what  I  say, — that  if  every  one  had  their  own, 
sorrow  an  acre  of  that  property  would  be  theirs.  'T  is  a 
long  story,  but  if  you  like  to  hear  it,  you  're  welcome.  It 's 
more  pleasure  than  pain  to  me  to  tell  it,  though  many  a  man 
in  my  situation  would  n't  have  the  heart  to  go  over  it." 

Foglass  pronounced  his  willingness  at  once;  and,  a  fresh 
jorum  of  punch  being  concocted,  Dalton  commenced  that 
naiTative  of  his  marriage,  widowhood,  and  loss  of  fortune. 


A  CONVIVIAL  EVENING.  359 

of  which  the  reader  already  knows  the  chief  particulars, 
and  with  whose  details  we  need  not  twice  inflict  hixn. 

The  narrative  was  a  very  long  one;  nor  was  it  rendered 
more  succinct  by  the  manner  of  the  narrator,  nor  the  fre- 
quent interruptions  to  which,  for  explanation's  sake,  Foglass 
subjected  him.  Shall  we  own,  too,  that  the  punch  had  some 
share  in  the  intricacy,  Dalton's  memory  and  Foglass 's 
perceptions  growing  gradually  more  and  more  nebulous  as 
the  evening  wore  on.  Without  at  all  wishing  to  impugn 
Dalton's  good  faith,  it  must  be  owned  that,  what  between 
his  occasional  reflections,  his  doubts,  guesses,  surmises, 
and  suspicions,  his  speculations  a^  to  the  reason  of  this  and 
the  cause  of  that,  it  was  very  difllcult  for  a  man  so  deeply 
versed  in  punch  as  Foglass  to  carry  away  anything  like 
a  clear  notion  of  the  eventful  occurrences  related.  The 
strength  of  the  potation,  the  hour,  the  length  of  the  story, 
the  parenthetical  interruptions,  —  which,  although  only  by- 
paths, often  looked  exactly  like  the  high-road,  —  and  prob- 
ably, too,  certain  inaccuracies  in  the  adjustment  of  the 
ear-trumpet,  which  grew  to  be  very  difficult  at  last,  —  all 
contributed,-  more  or  less,  to  a  mystification  which  finally 
resembled  nothing  so  much  as  a  very  confused  dream. 

Had  the  worthy  ex-Consul  then  been  put  on  his  oath,  he 
could  n't  have  said  whether  or  not  Sir  Stafford  had  murdered 
the  late  Mr.  Godfrey,  or  if  that  crime  should  be  attributed 
to  Dalton's  late  wife.  Between  Sir  Gilbert  Stafford  and 
Sir  Stafford  Onslow,  he  had  a  vague  suspicion  of  some 
Siamese  bond  of  union,  but  that  they  were  cut  asunder  late 
in  life,  and  were  now  drifting  in  different  currents,  he  also 
surmised.  But  which  of  them  "got  the  fortune,"  and 
which  had  not,  —  who  held  the  estate  at  present,  and  how 
Dalton  came  to  be  there  at  that  moment  relating  the  story, 
—  were  Chinese  puzzles  to  him. 

Murder,  matrimony,  debts,  difficulties,  and  Chancery 
suits  danced  an  infernal  reel  through  his  brain;  and,  what 
with  the  scattered  fragments  of  Irish  life  thrown  in  inciden- 
tally, of  locking  dinner-parties  in,  and  barring  the  sheriff 
out,  of  being  chased  by  bailiffs,  or  hunting  them,  —  all  these 
divertissements  ending  In  a  residence  abroad,  with  its 
manifold    discomforts   and   incongruities,  —  poor   Foglass 


360  THE  DALTONS. 

was  in  a  state  which,  were  it  only  to  be  permanent,  would 
have  presented  a  spectacle  of  very  lamentable  insanity. 

The  nearest  approach  to  a  fact  that  he  could  come  to  waa 
that  Dalton  ought  to  be  enormously  rich,  and  that  now  he 
hadn't  a  sixpence;  that  the  wealthy  banker  was  somehow 
the  cause,  Count  Stephen  being  not  altogether  blameless; 
and  that  Kate  was  living  a  life  of  extravagance  and  waste, 
while  her  father  and  sister  were  waging  a  hard  fight  with  the 
very  "grimmest"  of  poverty. 

"L'homme  propose,"  «&c.,  says  the  adage;  and  the  poet 
tells  us  an  instance,  that  "  those  who  came  to  scofif  remained 
to  pray."  So  in  the  present  case,  Mr.  Foglass,  whose  mis- 
sion was  to  pump  Peter  Dalton  out  of  every  family  secret 
and  circumstance,  had  opened  such  an  unexpected  stream 
of  intelligence  upon  himself  that  he  was  actually  carried 
away  in  the  flood. 

"You've  been  badly  used,  Dalton,"  said  he,  at  last.  "I 
may  say,  infamously  treated !  Not  only  your  fortune  taken 
away,  but  your  children  torn  from  you !  " 

"Ay,  just  so."  Dalton  liked  sympathy  too  well  to  cavil 
about  his  title  to  it.  "True  for  you,  a  harder  case  than 
mine  you  '11  not  hear  of  in  a  summer's  day.  My  elegant 
fine  place,  my  beautiful  domain,  the  seat  of  my  ancestors, 
—  or,  if  they  were  n't,  they  were  my  wife's,  and  that 's  all 
the  same;  and  to  be  sitting  here,  in  a  foreign  country,, 
hundreds  of  miles  away  from  home.  Oh  dear,  oh  dear! 
but  that's  a  change!"  For  an  instant  the  thought  over- 
whelmed him,  and  he  was  silent;  then,  fixing  his  eyes  on 
Foglass,  he  added,  in  a  dreamy  soliloquy,  "Hundreds  of 
miles  away  from  home,  drinking  bad  brandy,  with  a  deaf 
chap  in  a  red  wig  for  company." 

"I  call  yours  a  case  of  downright  oppression,  Dalton,'* 
resumed  the  other,  who  fortunately  overheard  nothing  of  the 
last  remark.  "If  you  had  been  residing  in  Persia  or  the 
Caucasus  —  even  in  the  Danubian  Provinces  —  we  'd  have 
made  you  a  case  for  the  Foreign  Ofl3ce.  You  'd  have  had 
your  compensation,  sir.  Ay,  faith !  you  'd  have  had  a  good 
round  sum  for  the  murder  of  your  father,  —  old  what 's 
his  name?  You  'd  have  had  your  claim,  sir,  for  the  loss  of 
that  fine  boy  the  Austrians  have  taken  from  you,  Mrs.  Dal- 


A  CONVIVIAL  EVENING.  361 

ton's  wardrobe,  and  all  that  sort  of  thing.  I  must  repeat 
my  conviction,  you  've  been  grossly  —  infamously  treated!  " 

"And  just  to  think  of  my  own  flesh  and  blood,  — 
Stephen,  my  uncle !  " 

"  I  can't  think  of  him,  sir!  1  can't  bear  to  think  of  him!  " 
cried  Foglass,  with  enthusiasm. 

"A  count  of  the  Empire!"  resumed  Dalton;  "a  field- 
marshal,  and  a  something  else,  with  his  Maria  Teresa!  " 

"At  his  age  he  might  give  up  those  habits,"  said  Foglass, 
who  had  converted  the  Cross  of  the  Empress  into  a  very 
different  relationship. 

"And  now,  there  's  Kate,"  said  Dalton,  who  never  heard 
his  comment,  —  "there 's  Kate,  my  own  favorite  of  them  all! 
thinks  no  more  about  us  than  if  we  did  n't  belong  to  her!  " 

"Living  in  splendor!"  mumbled  Foglass.  "Boundless 
extravagance ! " 

"Just  so !  Wasting  hundreds  —  flinging  the  money  about 
like  chaff!" 

"I  saw  a  ball  dress  of  hers  myself,  at  Madame  Fan- 
chone's,  that  was  to  cost  three  thousand  francs ! " 

"Three  thousand  francs!  How  am  I  to  bear  it  all?" 
exclaimed  Dalton,  fiercely.  "Will  any  man  tell  me  how 
an  Ii-ish  gentleman,  with  an  embarrassed  estate,  and  in  the 
present  times,  can  meet  such  extravagance  as  that?  Three 
thousand  francs!  and,  maybe,  for  a  flimsy  rag  that 
wouldn't  stand  a  shower  of  rain!  Oh,  Fogies,  you  don't 
know  the  man  that 's  sitting  before  you, —  hale  and  stout  and 
hearty  as  he  looks,  —  the  trials  he  has  gone  through,  and  the 
troubles  he  has  faced,  just  for  his  children.  Denying  him- 
self every  enjoyment  in  life!  "  (here  he  sipped  his  glass), 
"giving  up  every  little  comfort  he  was  used  to!  "  (another 
sip),  "all  for  his  family!  Look  at  my  coat;  feel  the  wool 
of  it.  See  my  breeches;  'tis  like  the  hide  of  a  bear  they 
are.  Take  notice  of  my  shoes;  and  there's  my  purse, 
with  two  florins  and  eight  kreutzers  in  it;  and,  may  I 
never  see  glory,  if  I  don't  owe  a  little  bill  in  every  shop 
that  will  trust  me!  And  for  what?  answer  me  that,  — 
for  what?" 

Although  the  savage  energy  with  which  this  question  was 
put  would  have  extorted  an  answer  from  the  least  willing 


362  THE  DALTONS. 

witness,  Foglass  was  unable  to  reply,  and  only  stared  in 
mute  astonishment. 

"I  '11  tell  you  for  what.  Fogies,"  resumed  Dal  ton,  with  a 
stroke  of  his  clenched  fist  on  the  table,  — ''1  '11  tell  you  for 
what!  To  have  a  son  in  the  Hussars,  and  a  daughter  in 
all  the  height  of  fashion  and  fine  life!  That 'sit.  Fogies. 
My  boy  keeping  company  with  all  the  first  people  in  Aus- 
tria, hand  and  glove  with  —  what 's  his  name?  —  something 
like  'Misty,'  or  'Hazy' — I  forget  it  now  —  dining,  driv- 
ing, and  shooting  with  them.  And  my  girl,  Kate  —  But 
sure  you  know  better  than  myself  what  style  she  's  keeping! 
That 's  the  reason  I  'm  what  you  see  me  here,  —  pining  away 
in  solitude  and  small  means!     AH  for  my  children's  sake!  " 

"It  is  highly  meritorious.  It  does  you  honor,  Dalton," 
said  the  other,  emphatically. 

"Well,  I  hope  it  does,"  said  he,  with  a  sigh.  "But 
how  few  know  it,  after  all ! " 

"And  has  this  same  Sir  Stafford  never  taken  any  steps 
towards  recompensing  you?  Has  there  been  nothing  like 
an  amende  for  the  great  losses  you  've  sustained  ?  " 

"Oh,  indeed,  to  do  him  justice,  he  made  me  a  kind  of 
an  offer  once ;  but  you  see  it  was  hampered  with  so  many 
conditions  and  restrictions,  and  the  like,  that  I  rejected  it 
with  contempt.  '  No!  '  says  I,  '  't  is  n't  poverty  will  ever 
make  me  demean  the  old  family!  The  Daltons  won't  suffer 
disgrace  from  me ! '  " 

"He  could  have  assisted  you  without  such  an  alternative, 
Dalton," 

"Maybe  he  could,  indeed!  "  sighed  the  other. 

"I  know  it  well;  the  man  is  one  of  the  richest  in  Eng- 
land; the  head  of  a  great  bank,  besides,  making  thousands 
every  week," 

"I  often  thought  of  that,"  said  Dalton.  "Sure  it  would 
cost  him  little  just  to  discount  a  small  thing  for  me  at  three 
months.  I'd  take  care  to  meet  it,  of  course;  and  he'd 
never  lose  a  sixpence  by  me.  Indeed,  he  'd  be  gaining ; 
for  he  'd  have  the  commission,  and  the  discount,  and  the 
interest,  and  the  devil  knows  what  besides  of  law 
expenses  —  " 

Here  he  stopped  abruptly,  for  he  had  unwittingly  strayed 


A  CONVIVIAL  EVENING.  363 

into  another  and  very  different  hypothesis  regarding  the 
fate  of  his  bill.  However,  he  pulled  up  short,  tossed  off  his 
punch,  and  said,  "I  only  wish  he  'd  do  it!  " 

"Why  not  try  him,  then?  you  ought,  at  least,  to  give 
yourself  the  chance." 

"And,  if  he  refused  me,  I'd  have  to  call  him  out,"  said 
Dalton,  gravely;  "and  just  see  all  the  confusion  that  would 
lead  to.  My  daughter  on  a  visit  there,  myself  here,  and, 
maybe,  obliged  to  go  hundreds  of  miles  to  meet  him,  and 
no  end  to  the  expense,  taking  a  friend  with  me,  too.  No, 
no!  that  would  be  too  selfish  entirely." 

"What  if  you  were  to  throw  out  a  hint,  when  you  write 
to  your  daughter,  —  allude  to  present  pressure  for  money ; 
speak  of  tenants  in  arrear;  remittances  not  arrived?" 

"Oh,  faith!  there's  no  need  prompting  me  about  these 
things,"  said  Dalton,  with  a  bitter  laugh.  "I  know  them 
too  well  already. " 

"Write  a  few  lines,  then;  you'll  find  paper  and  pens  on 
that  table.  I  've  told  you  that  I  will  send  it  under  my  own 
seal,  with  the  despatches." 

Dalton  was  very  little  given  to  letter- writing  at  any 
period;  but  to  encounter  the  labor  at  night  by  candle-light, 
and  after  a  few  hours'  carouse,  seemed  to  him  quite  out  of 
the  question.  Still,  the  Embassy  seal,  whatever  that  might 
be,  was  no  common  temptation.  Perhaps  he  fancied  it  to 
be  like  one  of  those  portentous  appendages  which  are  seen 
attached  to  royal  grants!  Who  can  tell  what  amount  of 
wax  and  ribbon  his  imagination  bestowed  upon  it!  Besides 
this,  there  was  another  motive,  —  never  again,  perhaps, 
should  he  be  able  to  write  without  Nelly's  knowledge. 
This  consideration  decided  the  question  at  once.  Accord- 
ingly, he  put  on  his  spectacles,  and  seated  himself  gravely 
to  the  work,  which  proceeded  thus :  — 

Dear  Kate,  —  I  'm  spending  the  evening  with  your  friend  the 
Ambassador  of  —  I  forget  where  —  Fogies  is  his  name  —  and  as 
pleasant  a  man  as  I  ever  met ;  and  he  sends  his  regards  to  you  and 
all  the  family,  and  transmits  this  under  his  own  seal.  Things  is 
going  on  bad  enough  here.  Not  a  shilling  out  of  Crognoborraghan. 
Healey  ran  away  with  the  November  rent  and  the  crops,  and 
Sweeney  's  got  into  the  place,  and  won't  give  it  up  to  any  one  with- 


864  THE  DALTONS. 

out  he  gets  forty  pound  !  I  'd  give  him  forty  of  my  teeth  as  so<mi, 
if  I  had  them !  Kyan  shot  Mr.  Johnson  coming  home  from  work, 
and  will  l>e  hanged  on  Saturday  ;  and  that 's  in  our  favor,  as  he  was 
a  life  in  Honan's  lease.  There  's  no  money  in  Ireland,  Kellet  tells 
me,  and  there  's  none  here.  Where  the  blazes  is  it  all  gone  to  ? 
Maybe,  like  the  potatoes  't  is  dying  out ! 

Frank  's  well  sick  of  soldiering ;  they  chained  him  up  like  a  dog, 
with  his  hand  to  his  leg,  the  other  night  for  going  to  the  play  ;  and 
if  he  was  n't  a  born  gentleman,  he  says,  they  'd  have  given  him 
"  four-and-twenty,"  as  he  calls  it,  with  a  stick  for  impudence. 
Stephen 's  no  more  good  to  him  than  an  old  umbrella,  —  never  gave 
him  bit  nor  sup  1  Bad  luck  to  the  old  Neygur  —  I  can't  speak  of 
him. 

Nelly  goes  on  carving  and  cutting  away  as  before.  There 's  not 
a  saint  in  the  calendar  she  did  n't  make  out  of  rotten  wood  this 
winter,  and  little  Hans  buys  them  all,  at  a  fair  price,  she  says ;  but 
I  call  a  Holy  Family  cheap  at  ten  florins,  and  't  is  giving  the  Virgin 
away  to  sell  her  for  a  Prussian  dollar.  'T  is  a  nice  way  for  one  of 
the  Daltons  to  be  living  —  by  her  own  industry  ! 

I  often  wish  for  you  back  here ;  but  I  'd  be  sorry,  after  all,  ye  'd 
come,  for  the  place  is  poorer  than  ever,  and  you  're  in  good  quarters, 
and  snug  where  you  are. 

Tell  me  how  they  treat  you  —  if  they  're  as  kind  as  before  —  and 
how  is  the  old  man,  and  is  the  gout  bad  with  him  still  ?  I  send  you 
in  this  a  little  bill  Martin  Cox,  of  Drumsnagh.  enclosed  me  for  sixty- 
two  ten-and-eight.  Could  you  get  the  old  Baronet  to  put  his  name 
on  it  for  me  ?  Tell  him  't  is  as  good  as  the  bank  paper,  that  Cox  is 
as  respectable  a  man  as  any  in  Leitrim,  and  an  estated  gentleman, 
like  myself,  and  of  course  that  we'll  take  care  to  have  the  cash 
ready  for  it  when  due.  This  will  be  a  great  convenience  to  me,  and 
Fogies  says  it  will  be  a  pleasure  to  Sir  Stafford,  besides  extending 
his  connection  among  Irish  gentlemen.  If  he  seems  to  like  the 
notion,  say  that  your  father  is  well  known  in  Ireland,  and  can  help 
him  to  a  very  lively  business  in  the  same  way.  Indeed,  I  'd  have 
been  a  fortune  to  him  myself  alone,  if  he  'd  had  the  discounting  of 
me  for  the  last  fifteen  years  1 

Never  mind  this,  however,  for  bragging  is  not  genteel ;  but  get 
me  his  name,  and  send  me  the  "  bit  of  stiff  "  by  return  of  post. 

If  he  wants  to  be  civil,  maybe  he'll  put  it  into  the  bank  himself, 
and  send  me  the  money ;  and  if  so,  let  the  order  be  on  Haller  and 
Oelcher,  for  I  've  a  long  account  with  Koch  and  Elz,  and  maybe 
they  'd  keep  a  grip  of  the  cash,  and  I  'd  just  be  where  I  was  before. 

If  I  can  get  out  of  this  next  spring  it  would  be  a  great  economy, 
for  I  owe  something  to  everybody,  and  a  new  place  always  gives 
courage. 


A  CONVIVIAL   EVENING.  365 

I  'm  hesitating  whether  I  '11  go  to  Genoa  or  New  York,  but  cheap- 
ness will  decide  me,  for  I  only  live  now  for  my  family. 
With  all  my  affection, 

Believe  me  your  fond  father, 

Peter  Dalton. 

P.  S.  If  Sir  S.  would  rather  have  my  own  acceptance,  let  him 
draw  for  a  hundred,  at  three  months,  and  I  'ra  ready ;  but  don't 
disappoint  me,  one  way  or  other.  Wood  is  fifteen  florins  a  "  klafter  " 
here,  now,  and  I  've  nobody  to  cut  it  when  it  comes  home,  as  Andy 
took  a  slice  out  of  his  shin  on  Friday  last  with  the  hatchet,  and  is  in 
bed  ever  since.  Vegetables,  too,  is  dear ;  and  since  Frank  went, 
we  never  see  a  bit  of  game. 

2nd  P.  S.  If  you  had  such  a  thing  as  a  warm  winter  cloak  that 
you  did  n't  want,  you  might  send  it  to  Nelly.  She  goes  out  in  a 
thing  like  a  bit  of  brown  paper,  and  the  wooden  shoes  is  mighty 
unhandy  with  her  lameness. 

Mind  the  bill. 

"You  are  writing  a  rather  lengthy  despatch,  Dalton," 
said  Foglass,  who  had  twice  dozed  off  to  sleep,  and  woke 
again,  only  to  see  him  still  occupied  with  his  epistle. 

"It's  done  now,"  said  Dalton,  with  a  sigh;  for,  without 
well  knowing  why,  he  was  not  quite  satisfied  with  the 
performance. 

"I  wish  you  'd  just  add  a  line,  to  say  that  Mrs.  Ricketts, 
—  Mrs.  Major-General  Ricketts,  — who  resides  at  Florence, 
is  so  desirous  to  know  her.  You  can  mention  that  she  is 
one  of  the  first  people,  but  so  exclusive  about  acquaint- 
ance, that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  get  presented  to  her; 
but  that  this  coming  winter  the  Embassy  will,  in  all  likeli- 
hood, open  a  door  to  so  desirable  an  object." 

"Lady  Hester  will  know  her,  of  course?"  said  Dalton, 
whose  sense  of  proprieties  was  usually  clear  enough  when 
selfishness  did  not  interfere,  "and  I  don't  see  that  my 
daughter  should  extend  her  acquaintance  through  any 
other  channel." 

"Oh,  very  true;  it's  of  no  consequence.  I  only  meant 
it  as  an  attention  to  Miss  Dalton;  but  your  observation  is 
very  just,"  said  Foglass,  who  suddenly  felt  that  he  was  on 
dangerous  ground. 

"  Depend   upon  't.   Fogies,   my  daughter  is  in  the  best 


866  THE   DALTONS. 

society  of  the  place,  whatever  it  is.  It 's  not  a  Dalton 
would  be  left  out." 

Foglass  repeated  his  most  implicit  conviction  in  this 
belief,  and  did  all  in  his  power  to  efface  the  memory  of  the 
suggestion,  but  without  success.  Family  pride  was  a  kind 
of  birdlime  with  old  Dalton,  and  if  he  but  touched,  he 
could  not  leave  it.  The  consequences,  however,  went 
no  further  than  a  long  and  intricate  dissertation  on  the 
Dalton  blood  for  several  centuries  back,  through  which 
Foglass  slept  just  as  soundly  as  the  respected  individuals 
there  recorded,  and  was  only  awoke  at  last  by  Dalton  risiug 
to  take  leave,  —  an  event  at  last  suggested  by  the  empty 
decanter. 

"And  now,  Fogies,"  said  he,  summing  up,  "you'll  not 
wonder,  that  if  we  're  poor  we  're  proud.  I  suppose  you 
never  heard  of  a  better  stock  than  that  since  you  were 
born?" 

'^' Never,  by  Jove!  Guelphs,  Ghibellines,  and  Hapsburgs 
are  nothing  to  them.  Good-night,  good-night!  I  '11  take 
care  of  your  letter.  It  shall  go  to-morrow  in  the  Embassy 
bag." 


CHAPTER   XXXII. 


AN    INVASION. 


To  afford  the  reader  the  explanation  contained  in  the  preced- 
ing chapter,  we  have  been  obliged  to  leave  Kate  Dalton 
waiting,  in  mingled  anxiety  and  vsuspense,  for  the  hour  of 
Mrs.  Ricketts's  visit.  Although  her  mind  principally  dwelt 
upon  the  letter  which  had  been  announced  as  coming  from 
her  father,  —  an  event  so  strange  as  naturally  to  cause 
astonishment,  —  she  also  occasionally  recurred  to  the  awk- 
wardness of  receiving  persons  whom  Lady  Hester  had  so 
scrupulously  avoided,  and  being  involved  in  an  acquaint- 
anceship so  unequivocally  pronounced  vulgar.  A  few 
short  months  before,  and  the  incident  would  have  worn  a 
very  different  aspect  to  her  eyes.  She  would  have  dwelt 
alone  on  the  kindness  of  one,  an  utter  stranger,  addressing 
her  in  terms  of  respectful  civility,  and  proffering  the  atten- 
tion of  a  visit.  She  would  have  been  grateful  for  the  good- 
nature that  took  charge  of  a  communication  for  her.  She 
would  have  viewed  the  whole  as  a  sort  of  flattering  notice, 
and  never  dreamed  of  that  long  catalogue  of  "inconven- 
iences "  and  annoyances  so  prolifically  associated  with  the 
event  as  it  at  present  stood.  She  was  greatly  changed  in 
many  respects.  She  had  been  daily  accustomed  to  hear  the 
most  outrageous  moral  derelictions  lightly  treated,  or,  at 
least,  but  slightly  censured.  For  every  fault  and  failing 
there  was  a  skilful  excuse  or  a  charitable  explanation.  The 
errors  of  the  fashionable  world  were  shown  to  be  few,  insig- 
nificant, and  venial ;  and  the  code  showed  no  exception  to 
the  rule  that  "well-bred  people  can  do  no  wrong."  Vul- 
garity alone  was  criminal;  and  the  sins  of  the  underbred 
admitted  of  no  palliation.  Her  sense  of  justice  might  have 
revolted  against  such  judgments,  had  reason  been  ever 
appealed  to;    but  such  was  not  the  case.     Ridicule  alone 


368  THE   DALTONS. 

was  the  arbiter;  whatever  could  be  scoffed  at  was  detest- 
able, and  a  solecism  iu  dress,  accent,  or  demeanor  was  a 
higher  crime  than  many  a  grave  transgression  or  glaring 
iniquity. 

The  little  mimicries  of  Albert  Jekyl,  as  he  described  Mrs. 
Ricketts,  the  few  depreciatory  remarks  of  Lady  Hester 
concerning  her,  would  have  outweighed  her  worth  had  her 
character  been  a  cornucopia  of  goodness.  It  was,  then, 
in  no  pleasant  flurry  of  spirits,  that,  just  as  the  clock 
struck  three,  Kate  heard  the  heavy  door  of  the  palace  flung 
wide,  and  the  sound  of  wheels  echo  beneath  the  vaulted 
entrance.  The  next  moment  a  small  one-horse  phaeton, 
driven  by  a  very  meagre  servant  in  a  tawdry  livery,  passed 
iuto  the  courtyard,  having  deposited  its  company  in  the 
hall. 

There  had  been  a  time,  and  that  not  so  very  far  back 
either,  when  the  sight  of  that  humble  equipage,  with 
visitors,  would  have  made  her  heart  beat  to  the  full  as 
strong,  albeit  with  very  different  emotions.  Now,  however, 
she  actually  glanced  at  the  windows  to  see  if  it  had 
attracted  notice,  with  a  kind  of  terror  at  the  ridicule  it 
would  excite.  Never  did  she  think  an  old  gray  horse 
could  be  so  ugly;  never  did  wheels  make  so  intolerable  a 
noise  before!  Why  would  people  dress  up  their  servants 
like  harlequins?  What  was  the  meaning  of  that  leopard- 
skin  rug  for  the  feet?  It  was  an  odious  little  vehicle, 
altogether.  There  was  a  tawdry,  smirking,  self-satisfied 
pretension  about  its  poverty  that  made  one  wish  for  a 
break-down  on  looking  at  it. 

"Mrs.  Montague  Ricketts  and  Miss  Ricketts,"  said  a 
very  demure-looking  groom  of  the  chambers;  and  although 
his  features  were  immaculate  in  their  expressions  of 
respect,  Kate  felt  offended  at  what  she  thought  was  a 
flippancy  in  the  man's  manner. 

Although  the  announcement  was  thus  made,  the  high  and 
mighty  personages  were  still  three  rooms  off,  and  visible 
only  in  the  dim  distance,  coming  slowly  forward. 

Leaning  on  her  sister's  arm,  and  with  a  step  at  once 
graceful  and  commanding,  Mrs.  Ricketts  came  on.  At 
least,  so   Kate  judged   an   enormous   pyramid  of   crimson 


AN  INVASION.  369 

velvet  and  ermine  to  be,  from  the  summit  of  which  waved 
a  sutliciency  of  plumes  for  a  moderate  hearse.  The  size 
and  dignity  of  this  imposing  figure  almost  entirely  eclipsed 
poor  Martha,  and  completely  shut  out  the  slender  propor- 
tions of  Mr.  Scroope  Purvis,  who,  from  being  loaded  like  a 
sumpter-mule  with  various  articles  for  the  road,  was  passed 
over  by  the  groom  of  the  chambers,  and  believed  to  be  a 
servant.  Slow  as  was  the  order  of  march,  Purvis  made 
it  still  slower  by  momentarily  propping  some  of  the  articles 
with  which  he  was  charged ;  and  as  they  comprised  a  foot- 
stool, a  poodle,  two  parasols,  an  album,  a  smelling-bottle, 
a  lorgnette,  with  various  cushions,  shawls,  and  a  portable 
fire-screen,  his  difficulties  may  be  rather  compassionated 
than  censured. 

"Scroope,  how  can  you?  Martha,  do  speak  to  him. 
It's  down  again!  He'll  smash  my  lorgnette  —  he'll 
smother  Fidele.  How  very  awkward  —  how  absurd  we  shall 
look!  "  Such  were  the  sotto  voce  accompaniments  that  filled 
up  the  intervals  till  they  arrived  at  the  great  drawing-room, 
where  Kate  Dalton  sat. 

If  the  reader  has  ever  watched  a  great  tragedy  queen 
emerging  from  the  flats,  when,  after  a  lively  dialogue  with 
the  prompter,  and  the  utterance  of  a  pleasant  jest,  she  issues 
forth  upon  the  open  stage,  to  vent  the  sorrows  or  the  wrongs 
of  injured  womanhood,  he  may  form  some  faint  idea  of  the 
rapid  transformation  that  Mrs.  Ricketts  underwent  as  she 
passed  the  door-sill.  Her  first  movement  was  a  sudden 
bound  forwards,  or,  at  least,  such  an  approach  to  a  spring 
as  a  body  so  imposing  could  accomplish,  and  then,  throwing 
her  arms  wide,  she  seemed  as  if  about  to  enclose  Miss 
Dalton  in  a  fast  embrace;  and  so,  doubtless,  had  she  done, 
if  Kate  had  responded  to  the  sign.  A  deep  and  very  formal 
courtesy  was,  however,  her  only  acknowledgment  of  this 
spontaneous  burst  of  feeling;  and  Mrs.  Ricketts,  like  a 
skilful  general,  at  once  changing  her  plan  of  attack,  con- 
verted her  ardor  into  astonishment,  and  exclaimed,  — 

"Did  you  ever  see  such  a  resemblance?  Could  you 
believe  it  possible,  Martha?  A  thousand  apologies,  my 
dear  Miss  Dalton,  for  this  rudeness;  but  you  are  so  won- 
derfully like  our  dear,  dear  friend  Lady  Caroline  Mon- 
VOL.  I.  —  24 


370  THE  DALTONS. 

tressor,  that  I  actually  forgot  myself.  Pray  forgive  me, 
and  let  me  present  my  sister,  Miss  Ricketts.  My  brother, 
Mr.  Scroope  Purvis,  Miss  Dalton." 

The  ceremonial  of  introduction  over,  and  Mrs.  Ricketts 
being  at  last  seated,  —  a  very  tedious  operation,  in  which 
the  arrangement  of  cushions,  pillows,  and  footstools  played 
a  conspicuous  part,  —  that  bland  lady  began,  in  her  very 
softest  of  voices,  — 

"This,  indeed,  repays  me, — amply,  fully  repays  me!  — 
eh,  Martha?" 

"Quite  so,  sister,"  responded  Martha,  in  a  meek  whisper. 

"A  poor  invalid  as  I  am,  rarely  rising  from  a  sofa  except 
to  snatch  the  perfumed  odors  of  a  violet  in  spring,  or  to 
listen  to  the  murmurs  of  a  rippling  fountain;  denied  all  the 
excitements  of  society  by  a  nervous  temperament  so  finely 
strung  as  to  be  jarred  by  contact,  even  the  remotest,  with 
inferior  souls  —  think  of  what  ecstasy  a  moment  like  this 
affords  me !  " 

As  Kate  was  profoundly  ignorant  to  what  happy  combi- 
nation of  circumstances  this  blissful  state  could  be  attrib- 
uted, she  could  only  smile  courteously,  and  mutter  some 
vague  expressions  of  her  pleasure,  satisfaction,  and  so  forth. 

"Eve  in  her  own  paradise!  "  exclaimed  Mrs.  Ricketts,  as 
she  turned  her  eyes  from  Kate  to  the  gorgeous  chamber  in 
which  they  were  seated.  "May  I  ask  if  the  taste  of  these 
decorations  be  yours.  Miss  Dalton?" 

"Lady  Hester  Onslow's,  madam,"  said  Kate,  quietly. 

"I  declare,  I  like  these  hangings  better  than  '  Gobelins  ' 
—  they  are  lighter  and  more  graceful.  You  remember, 
Martha,  I  told  the  dear  Queen  of  Saxony  that  blue  velvet 
would  go  so  well  with  her  small  pictures.  We  discussed 
the  point  every  morning  at  breakfast  for  a  week,  and  the 
poor  dear  King  at  last  called  us  the  '  blue  devils ; '  —  very 
happy,  wasn't  it.  Miss  Dalton?  But  he  speaks  English 
just  like  one  of  ourselves." 

"These  are  all  Dutch  pictures,  I  perceive,"  said  Pui'vis, 
who,  with  his  poodle  under  his  arm,  was  making  a  tour  of 
the  room,  peering  into  everything,  opening  books,  prying 
into  china  jars,  and  spying  into  work-boxes,  as  though  in 
search  of  some  missing  article. 


AN  INVASION.  371 

"I  'm  tired  of  Wou-Wou-Wou  —  "  Here  the  poodle 
barked,  doubtless  in  the  belief  that  he  was  responding  to 
an  invitation.  "Down,  Fidele!  Wou-vermans,"  gulped 
out  Purvis.     "He  *s  always  the  same." 

"But  those  dear  white  palfreys,  how  I  love  them!  I 
always  have  a  white  horse,  out  of  regard  for  Wouver- 
mans." 

Kate  thought  of  the  poor  gray  in  the  courtyard,  and  said 
nothing. 

"And  there  is  something  so  touching  —  so  exquisitely 
touching  —  in  those  Flemish  interiors,  where  the  goodwife 
is  seated  reading,  and  a  straggling  sunbeam  comes  slanting 
in  upon  the  tiled  floor.  Little  peeps  of  life,  as  it  were, 
in  a  class  of  which  we  know  nothing;  for,  really.  Miss 
Dalton,  iu  our  order,  sympathies  are  too  much  fettered;  and 
I  often  think  it  would  be  better  that  we  knew  more  of  the 
middle  classes.  When  I  say  this,  of  course  I  do  not  mean 
as  associates,  —  far  less  as  intimates,  —  but  as  ingredients 
in  the  grand  scheme  of  universal  nature." 

"  'The  no-no-noblest  study  of  man-mankind  is  '  —  what  is 
it,  sister?  " 

"  '  Man,'  Scroope;  but  the  poet  intended  to  refer  to  the 
great  aims  and  objects  of  our  being.  Don't  you  think  so, 
Miss  Dalton?  It  was  not  man  in  the  little  cares  of  every- 
day life,  in  his  social  relations,  but  man  in  his  destinies,  in 
his  vast  future,  when  he  goes  beyond  '  that  bourne  —  '  " 

"From  which  nobody  ever  got  out  again,"  cackled  Purvis, 
in  an  ecstasy  at  the  readiness  of  his  quotation. 

"  '  From  which  no  traveller  returns,'  Scroope,  is,  I  be- 
lieve, the  more  correct  version." 

"Then  it  don't  mean  pur- pur- pur-purgatory,"  gulped 
Scroope,  who,  as  soon  as  the  word  was  uttered,  became 
shocked  at  what  he  said.  "I  forgot  you  were  a  Ro-Ro- 
Roman,  Miss  Dalton,"  said  he,  blushing. 

"You  are  in  error,  Scroope,"  said  Mrs.  Ricketts.  "Miss 
Dalton  is  one  of  ourselves.  All  the  distinguished  Irish  are 
of  the  Reformed  faith." 

"I  am  a  Catholic,  madam,"  said  Kate,  not  knowing 
whether  to  be  more  amused  than  annoyed  at  the  turn  the 
conversation  had  taken. 


372  THE  DALTOXS. 

"I  knew  it,"  cried  Purvis,  in  delight.  "I  tracked  your 
carriage  to  the  D-D-Duomo,  and  I  went  in  after  you,  and 
saw  you  at  the  co-co-co-co  — " 

"Corner,"  whispered  Martha,  who,  from  his  agonies, 
grew  afraid  of  a  fit. 

"No,  not  the  corner,  but  the  co-co-co-confessional  —  con- 
fessional, where  you  stayed  for  an  hour  and  forty  minutes 
by  my  own  watch;  and  1  couldn't  help  thinking  that  3'our 
pec- pec-pec-peccadilloes  were  a  good  long  score,  by  the 
time  it  took  to — to  —  to  tell  them." 

"Thanks,  sir,"  said  Kate,  bowing,  and  with  difficulty 
restraining  her  laughter;  "thanks  for  the  very  kind  interest 
you  seem  to  have  taken  in  my  spiritual  welfare." 

"Would  that  1  might  be  suffered  a  participation  in  that 
charge.  Miss  Dalton,"  cried  Mrs.  Ricketts,  with  enthusiasm, 
"and  allowed  to  hold  some  converse  with  you  on  doctrinal 
questions ! " 

"Try  her  with  the  posers,  sister,"  whispered  Purvis. 
"Hush,  Scroope!      Mere  opportunities  of  friendly  discus- 
sion, nothing  more  I  ask  for,  Miss  Dalton." 

"Give  her  the  posers,"  whispered  Purvis,  louder. 
"Be  quiet,  Scroope.  I  have  been  fortunate  enough  to 
resolve  the  doubts  of  more  than  one  ere  this.  That  dear 
angel,  the  Princess  Ethel inda  of  Cobourgh,  I  believe  1  may 
sa3%  owes  her  present  enlightenment  to  our  sweet  evenings 
together." 

"Begin  with  the  posers." 
"Hush!  I  say,  Scroope." 

"May  I  ask,"  said  Kate,  "what  is  the  suggestion  Mr. 
Purvis  has  been  good  enough  to  repeat?" 

"That  I  should  give  you  this  little  tract.  Miss  Dalton," 
said  Mrs.  Ricketts  as  she  drew  out  a  miscellaneous  assem- 
blage of  articles  from  a  deep  pocket,  and  selected  from  the 
mass  a  small  blue-covered  pamphlet,  bearing  the  title, 
"Three  Posers  for  Papists,  by  M.  R." 

"Montague  Ricketts,"  said  Purvis,  proudly;  "she  wrote 
it  herself,  and  the  Pope  won't  let  us  into  Rome  in  conse- 
quence. It 's  very  droll,  too;  and  the  part  about  the  —  the 
—  Vir-gin  — " 

"You  will,  I  'm  sure,  excuse  me,  madam,"  said  Kate,  "if 


AN  INVASION.  373 

I  beg  that  this  subject  be  suffered  to  drop.  My  thanks  for 
the  interest  this  gentleman  and  yourself  have  vouchsafed 
me  will  only  be  more  lasting  by  leaving  the  impression  of 
them  unassociated  with  anything  unpleasing.  You  were 
good  enough  to  say  that  you  had  a  letter  for  me  ?  " 

"A  letter  from  your  father,  — that  dear,  fond  father,  who 
dotes  so  distractingly  upon  you,  and  who  really  seems  to 
live  but  to  enjoy  your  triumphs.  Martha,  where  is  the 
letter?" 

"I  gave  it  to  Scroope,  sister." 

"No,  you  did  n't.     I  never  saw  —  " 

"Yes,  Scroope,  I  gave  it  to  you,  at  the  drawing-room 
fire  —  " 

"Yes,  to  be  sure,  and  I  put  it  into  the  ca-ca-ca  — " 

"Not  the  candle,  I  hope,"  cried  Kate,  in  terror. 

"No,  into  the  card-rack;  and  there  it  is  now." 

"How  provoking!"  cried  Miss  Ricketts;  "but  you  shall 
have  it  to-morrow.  Miss  Dalton.    I  '11  leave  it  here  myself." 

"Shall  I  appear  impatient,  madam,  if  I  send  for  it  this 
evening?" 

"  Of  course  not,  my  dear  Miss  Dalton ;  but  shall  I  commit 
the  precious  charge  to  a  menial's  hand?  " 

"  You  may  do  so  with  safety,  madam,"  said  Kate,  not 
without  a  slight  irritation  of  manner  as  she  spoke. 

"Mr.  Foglass,  the  late  minister  and  envoy  at  —  " 

Here  a  tremendous  crash,  followed  by  a  tei*rific  yelping 
noise,  broke  in  upon  the  colloquy;  for  it  was  Fidele  had 
thrown  down  a  Sevres  jar,  and  lay,  half-buried  and  howling, 
under  the  ruins.  There  was,  of  course,  a  general  rising  of 
the  company,  some  to  rescue  the  struggling  poodle,  and 
others  in  vain  solicitude  to  gather  up  the  broken  fragments 
of  the  once  beautiful  vase.  It  was  a  favorite  object  with 
Lady  Hester ;  of  singular  rarity,  both  for  form  and  design  ; 
and  Kate  stood  speechless,  and  almost  sick  with  shame  and 
sorrow,  at  the  sight,  not  heeding  one  syllable  of  the  excuses 
and  apologies  poured  in  upon  her,  nor  of  the  equally  value- 
less assurances  that  it  could  be  easily  mended  ;  that  Martha 
was  a  perfect  proficient  in  such  arts ;  and  that,  if  Scroope 
would  only  collect  the  pieces  carefully,  the  most  difficult 
connoisseur  would  not  be  able  to  detect  a  flaw  in  it. 


374  THE   DALTONS. 

"I've  got  a  head  here;  but  the  no-uose  is  off,"  cried 
Purvis. 

"  Here  it  is,  Scroope.     I  've  found  it." 

"  No,  that's  a  toe,"  said  he ;  "  there 's  a  nail  to  it." 

"I  am  getting  ill  —  I  shall  faint,"  said  Mrs.  Rieketts, 
retiring  upon  a  well-cushioned  sofa  from  the  calamity. 

Martha  now  flew  to  the  bell-rope  and  pulled  it  violently, 
while  Purvis  threw  open  the  window,  and  with  such  rash 
haste  as  to  upset  a  stand  of  camellias,  thereby  scattering 
plants,  buds,  earth,  and  crockery  over  the  floor,  while  poor 
Kate,  thunderstruck  at  the  avalanche  of  ruin  around  her, 
leaned  against  the  wall  for  support,  unable  to  stir  or  even 
speak.  As  Martha  continued  to  tug  away  at  the  bell,  the 
alarm,  suggesting  the  idea  of  fire,  brought  three  or  four 
servants  to  the  door  together. 

"Madeira!  quick,  Madeira!"  cried  Martha,  as  she  un- 
loosed various  articles  of  dress  from  her  sister's  throat,  and 
prepared  a  plan  of  operations  for  resuscitation  that  showed 
at  least  an  experienced  hand. 

"Bring  wine,"  said  Kate,  faintly,  to  the  astonished  but- 
ler, who,  not  noticing  Miss  Ricketts's  order,  seemed  to  await 
hers. 

"  Madeira !  it  must  be  Madeira !  "  cried  Martha,  wildly. 

"  She  don't  dislike  Mar-Mar-Marco-brunner,"  whispered 
Purvis  to  the  servant,  "  and  I'll  take  a  glass  too." 

Had  the  irruption  been  one  of  veritable  housebreakers, 
had  the  occasion  been  what  newspapers  stereotype  as  a 
"Daring  Burglary,"  Kate  Dalton  might,  in  all  likelihood, 
have  distinguished  herself  as  a  heroine.  She  would,  it  is 
more  than  probable,  have  evinced  no  deficiency  either  of 
courage  or  presence  of  mind,  but  in  the  actual  contingency 
nothing  could  be  more  utterly  helpless  than  she  proved ; 
and,  as  she  glided  into  a  chair,  her  pale  face  and  trembling 
features  betrayed  more  decisive  signs  of  suffering  than  the 
massive  countenance  which  Martha  was  now  deluging  with 
eau-de-Cologne  and  lavender. 

The  wine  soon  made  its  appearance;  a  very  imposing 
array  of  restoratives  —  the  ambulatory  pharmacopoeia  of  the 
Rieketts  family  —  was  all  displayed  upon  a  table.  Martha, 
divested  of  shawl,   bonnet,    and  gloves,   stood  ready  for 


AN  INVASION.  375 

action ;  and  thus,  everything  being  in  readiness,  Mrs. 
Ricketts,  whose  consideration  never  suffered  her  to  take 
people  unawares,  now  began  her  nervous  attack  in  ail 
form. 

If  ague  —  hysterics  —  recovery  from  drowning — tic-do- 
loureux,  and  an  extensive  burn  had  all  sent  representatives 
of  their  peculiar  agonies,  with  injunctions  to  struggle  for  a 
mastery  of  expression,  the  symptoms  could  scarcely  have 
equalled  those  now  exhibited.  There  was  not  a  contortion 
nor  convulsion  that  her  countenance  did  not  undergo,  while 
the  devil's  tattoo,  kept  up  by  her  heels  upon  the  floor,  and 
her  knuckles  occasionally  on  the  table,  and  now  and  then  on 
Scroope's  head,  added  fearfully  to  the  effect  of  her  screams, 
which  varied  from  the  deep  groan  of  the  melodrame  to  the 
wildest  shrieks  of  tragedy. 

"There's  no  danger.  Miss  Dalton,"  whispered  Martha, 
whose  functions  of  hand-rubbing,  temple-bathing,  wine- 
giving,  and  so  forth,  were  performed  with  a  most  jog-trot 
regularity. 

"When  she  sc  sc-screams,  she's  all  right,"  added  Purvis; 
and,  certainly,  the  most  anxious  friend  might  have  been 
comforted  on  the  present  occasion. 

"  Shall  I  not  send  for  a  physician?"  asked  Kate,  eagerly. 

"  On  no  account.  Miss  Dalton.  We  are  quite  accus- 
tomed to  these  seizures.  My  dear  sister's  nerves  are  so 
susceptible." 

"  Yes,"  said  Scroope,  who,  be  it  remarked,  had  already 
half  finished  a  bottle  of  hock,  "  poor  Zoe  is  all  sensibility  — 
the  scabbard  too  sharp  for  the  sword.  Won't  you  have  a 
glass  of  wine,  Miss  Dalton  ?  " 

"Thanks,  sir,  I  take  none.  I  trust  she  is  better  now  — 
she  looks  easier." 

"  She  is  better;  but  this  is  a  difficult  moment,"  whispered 
Martha.  "  Any  shock  —  any  sudden  impression  now  might 
prove  fatal." 

"  What  is  to  be  done,  then  ?  "  said  Kate,  in  terror. 

"  She  must  be  put  to  bed  at  once,  the  room  darkened, 
and  the  strictest  silence  preserved.  Can  you  spare  your 
room  ?  " 

"  Oh,  of  course,  anything  —  everything  at   such   a  mo- 


876  THE  DALTONS. 

ment,"  cried  the  terrified  girl,  whose  reason  was  now  com- 
pletely mastered  by  her  fears. 

"  She  must  be  carried.  Will  you  give  orders,  Miss 
Dalton?  and,  Scroope,  step  down  to  the  carriage,  and  bring 
up — "  Here  Miss  Ricketts's  voice  degenerated  into  an 
inaudible  whisper;  but  Scroope  left  the  room  to  obey  the 
command. 

Her  sympathy  for  suffering  had  so  thoroughly  occupied 
Kate,  that  all  the  train  of  unpleasant  consequences  that 
were  to  follow  this  unhappy  incident  had  never  once  oc- 
curred to  her ;  nor  did  a  thought  of  Lady  Hester  cross  her 
mind,  till,  suddenly,  the  whole  flashed  upon  her,  by  the 
appearance  of  her  maid  Nina  in  the  drawing-room. 

"To  your  own  room.  Mademoiselle?"  asked  she,  with  a 
look  that  said  far  more  than  any  words. 

"Yes,  Nina,"  whispered  she.  "  \Yhat  can  I  do?  She 
is  so  ill !  They  tell  me  it  may  be  dangerous  at  any  moment, 
and  —  " 

"  Hush,  my  dear  Miss  Dalton  !  "  said  Martha ;  "  one  word 
may  wake  her." 

"I'd  be  a  butterfly!"  warbled  the  sick  lady,  in  a  low 
weak  treble ;  while  a  smile  of  angelic  beatitude  beamed  on 
her  features. 

"  Hush !  be  still !  "  said  Martha,  motioning  the  surrounders 
to  silence. 

"What  ehall  I  do,  Nina?  Shall  I  go  and  speak  to  my 
Lady?"  asked  Kate. 

A  significant  shrug  of  the  shoulders,  more  negative  than 
affirmative,  was  the  only  answer. 

"■  I  'd  be  a  gossamer,  and  you  'd  be  the  King  of  Thebes," 
said  Mrs.  Ricketts,  addressing  a  tall  footman,  who  stood 
ready  to  assist  in  carrying  her. 

"  Yes,  madam,"  said  he,  respectfully. 

"  She 's  worse,"  whispered  Martha,  gravely. 

"And  we'll  walk  on  the  wall  of  China  by  moonlight,  with 
Cleopatra  and  Mr.  Cobden?" 

"  Certainly,  madam,"  said  the  man,  who  felt  the  question 
too  direct  for  evasion. 

"  Has  she  been  working  slippers  for  the  planet  Ju-Ju- 
Jupiter   yet?"   asked   Purvis,   eagerly,   as   he   entered   the 


v\ 


^ 


V 


"C^S^ 


AN  INVASION.  377 

room,  heated,  and  flushed  from  the  weight  of  a  portentous 
bag  of  colored  wool. 

"No;  not  yet,"  whispered  Martha.  "You  may  lift  her 
now,  gently  —  very  gently,  and  not  a  word." 

And  in  strict  obedience,  the  servants  raised  their  fair 
burden,  and  bore  her  from  the  room,  after  Nina,  who  led 
the  way  with  an  air  that  betokened  a  more  than  common 
indifference  to  human  suffering. 

"  When  she  gets  at  Ju- Jupiter,"  said  Purvis  to  Kate,  as 
they  closed  the  procession,  "  it's  a  bad  symptom;  or  when 
she  fancies  she's  Hec-Hec-Hec-Hec  — " 

"Hecate?" 

"No;  not  Hec-Hecate,  but  Hecuba  —  Hecuba;  then  it's 
a  month  at  least  before  she  comes  round." 

"How  dreadful!"  said  Kate.  And  certainly  there  was 
not  a  grain  of  hypocrisy  in  the  fervor  with  which  she 
uttered  it. 

"  I  don't  think  she  '11  go  beyond  the  San-Sandwich  Islands 
this  time,  however,"  added  he,  consolinglj'. 
V  "  Hush,  Scroopel  "  cried  Martha.  And  now  they  entered 
the  small  and  exquisitely  furnished  dressing-room  which  was 
appropriated  to  Kate's  use ;  within  which,  and  opening  upon 
a  small  orangery,  stood  her  bedroom. 

Nina,  who  scrupulously  obeyed  every  order  of  her  young 
mistress,  continued  the  while  to  exhibit  a  hundred  petty 
signs  of  mute  rebellion. 

"  Lady  Hester  wishes  to  see  Miss  Dalton,"  said  a  servant 
at  the  outer  door. 

"  Can  you  permit  me  for  a  moment?"  asked  Kate,  in  a 
tremor. 

"Oh,  of  course,  my  dear  Miss  Dalton;  let  there  be  no 
ceremony  with  us,"  said  Martha.  "  Your  kindness  makes 
us  feel  like  old  friends  already." 

"I  feel- myself  quite  at  home,"  cried  Scroope,  whose 
liead  was  not  proof  against  so  much  wine;  and  then,  turn- 
ing to  one  of  the  servants,  he  added  a  mild  request  for  the 
two  bottles  that  were  left  on  the  drawing-room  table. 

Martha  happily,  however,  overheard  and  revoked  the 
order.  And  now  the  various  attendants  withdrew,  leaving 
the  family  to  themselves. 


378  THE  DALTONS. 

It  was  iu  no  pleasant  mood  that  Kate  took  her  way 
towards  Lady  Hester's  apartment.  The  drawing-room,  as 
she  passed  through  it,  still  exhibited  some  of  the  signs  of 
its  recent  ruin,  and  the  servants  were  busied  in  collecting 
fragments  of  porcelain  and  flower-pots.  Their  murmured 
comments,  hushed  as  she  went  by,  told  her  how  the  oc- 
currence was  already  the  gossip  of  the  household.  It  was 
impossible  for  her  not  to  connect  herself  with  the  whole 
misfortune.  "But  for  her  —  "  But -she  could  not  endure 
the  thought,  and  it  was  with  deep  humiliation  and  trembling 
in  every  limb  that  she  entered  Lady  Hester's  chamber. 

"  Leave  me.  Celadon ;  I  want  to  speak  to  Miss  Dalton," 
said  Lady  Hester  to  the  hairdresser,  who  had  just  com- 
pleted one  half  of  her  Ladyship's  chevelure,  leaving  the 
other  side  pinned  and  rolled  up  in  those  various  prepara- 
tory stages  which  have  more  of  promise  than  picturesque 
about  them.  Her  cheek  was  flushed,  and  her  eyes  sparkled 
with  an  animation  that  betrayed  more  passion  than  pleasure. 

"  What  is  tliis  dreadful  story  I  've  heard,  child,  and  that 
the  house  is  full  of?  Is  it  possible  there  can  be  any  truth 
in  it?  Have  these  odious  people  actually  dared  to  establish 
themselves  here?     Tell  me,  child  —  speak  !  " 

"  Mrs.  Ricketts  became  suddenly  ill,"  said  Kate,  trem- 
bling ;   "  her  dog  threw  down  a  china  jar." 

"  Not  my  Sevres  jar?  —  not  the  large  green  one,  with  the 
figures?" 

"  I  grieve  to  say  it  was !  " 

*'  Go  on.     What  then?"  said  Lady  Hester,  dryly. 

"  Shocked  at  the  incident,  and  alarmed,  besides,  by  the 
fall  of  a  flower-stand,  she  fainted  away,  and  subsequently 
was  seized  with  what  I  supposed  to  be  a  convulsive  attack, 
but  to  which  her  friends  seemed  perfectly  accustomed,  and 
pronounced  not  dangerous.  In  this  dilemma  they  asked  me 
if  they  might  occupy  my  room.  Of  course  I  could  not  refuse, 
and  yet  felt,  the  while,  that  I  had  no  right  to  extend  the 
hospitality  of  this  house.  I  saw  the  indelicacy  of  what  I 
was  doing.     I  was  shocked  and  ashamed,  and  yet  —  " 

"  Go  on,"  said  Lady  Hester  once  more,  and  with  a  stern 
quietude  of  manner  that  Kate  felt  more  acutely  than  even 
an  angry  burst  of  temper. 


AN  INVASION.  379 

"  I  have  little  more  to  say ;  iu  fact,  I  know  not  what  I 
am  saying,"  cried  she,  gulping  to  repress  the  torrent  of 
suffering  that  was  struggling  within  her. 

"  Miss  Dalton  —  "  began  Lady  Hester. 

"Oh!  why  not  Kate?"  broke  she  in  with  a  choking 
utterance. 

"  Miss  Dalton,"  resumed  Lady  Hester,  and  as  if  not 
hearing  the  entreaty,  "very  little  knowledge  of  that  world 
you  have  lived  in  for  the  past  three  or  four  months  might 
have  taught  you  some  slight  self-possession  in  difficulty. 
Still  less  acquaintance  with  it  might  have  suggested  the 
recollection  that  these  people  are  no  intimates  of  mine ;  so 
that,  even  were  tact  wanting,  feeling,  at  least,  should  have 
dictated  a  line  of  action  to  you." 

"  I  know  I  have  done  wrong.  I  knew  it  at  the  time,  and 
yet,  in  my  inexperience,  I  could  not  decide  on  anything. 
My  memory,  too,  helped  to  mislead  me,  for  I  bethought  me 
that  although  these  persons  were  not  of  your  own  rank  and 
station,  yet  you  had  stooped  lower  than  to  them  when  you 
came  to  visit  Nelly  and  myself." 

"Humph!"  ejaculated  Lady  Hester,  with  a  gesture  that 
very  unequivocally  seemed  to  say  that  her  having  done  so 
was  a  grievous  error.  Kate  saw  it  quickly,  and  as  sud- 
denly the  blood  rushed  to  her  cheek,  coloring  her  throat 
and  neck  with  the  deep  crimson  of  shame.  A  burst  of  pride 
—  the  old  Dalton  pride  —  seemed  to  have  given  way  within 
her ;  and  as  she  drew  herself  up  to  her  full  height,  her  look 
and  attitude  wore  every  sign  of  haughty  indignation. 

Lady  Hester  looked  at  her  for  a  few  seconds  with  a 
glance  of  searching  import.  Perhaps  for  a  moment  the 
possibility  of  a  deception  struck  her,  and  that  this  might 
only  be  feigned;  but  as  suddenly  did  she  recognize  the 
unerring  traits  of  truth,  and  said,  — 

"  What!  child,  are  you  angry  with  mef" 

"Oh  no,  no!"  said  Kate,  bursting  into  tears,  and 
kissing  the  hand  that  was  now  extended  towards  her,  — 
' '  oh  no,  no !  but  I  could  hate  myself  for  what  seems 
so  like   ingratitude." 

"Come,  sit  down  here  at  my  feet  on  this  stool,  and  tell 
me  all  about  it;  for,  after  all,  I  could  forgive  them  the 


380  THE  DALTONS. 

jar  and  the  camellias,  if  they  'd  only  have  gone  away 
afterwards.  And  of  course  the  lesson  will  not  be  thrown 
away  upon  you,  —  not  to  be  easily  deceived  again." 

"  How,  deceived?  "  exclaimed  Kate.  '*  She  was  very  ill. 
I  saw  it  myself." 

"  Nonsense,  child.  The  trick  is  the  very  stalest  piece 
of  roguery  going.  Since  Toe  Morris,  as  they  call  him  — 
the  man  that  treads  upon  people,  and  by  his  apologies 
scrapes  acquaintance  with  them  —  there  is  nothing  less 
original.  Why,  just  before  we  left  England,  there  was 
old  Bankhead  got  into  Slingsby  House,  merely  because 
the  newspapers  might  announce  his  death  at  the  Earl  of 
Grindleton's  — '  on  the  eighth,  of  a  few  days'  illness, 
deeply  regretted  by  the  noble  lord,  with  whom  he  was  on 
a  visit.'  Now,  that  dear  Ricketts  woman  would  almost 
consent  to  take  leave  of  the  world  for  a  similar  paragraph. 
I  'ra  sure  I  should  know  nothing  of  such  people  but  that 
Sir  Stafford's  relations  have  somewhat  enlightened  me. 
He  has  a  nest  of  cousins  down  in  Shropshire,  not  a  whit 
better  than  your —  I  was  going  to  call  them  '  your  friends,' 
the  Rickettses." 

"  It  is  almost  incredible  to  suppose  this  could  be  artifice." 

"Why  so,  child?  There  is  no  strategy  too  deep  for 
people  who  are  always  aspiring  to  some  society  above 
them.  Besides,  after  all,  I  was  in  a  measure  prepared  for 
this." 

"  Prepared  for  it!" 

"Yes;  Jekyl  told  me  that  if  they  once  got  in,  it  would 
be  next  to  impossible  to  keep  them  out  afterwards.  A 
compromise,  he  said,  was  the  best  thing ;  to  let  them  have 
so  many  days  each  year,  with  certain  small  privileges 
about  showing  the  house  to  strangers,  cutting  bouquets, 
and  so  on ;  or,  if  we  preferred  it,  let  them  carry  away  a 
Teniers  or  a  Gerard  Dow  to  copy,  and  take  care  never  to 
ask  for  it.  He  inclined  to  the  latter  as  the  better  plan, 
because,  after  a  cerlain  lapse  of  time,  it  can  end  in  a 
cut." 

"  But  this  is  inconceivable  !  "  exclaimed  Kate. 

"And  yet  half  the  absurd  and  incongruous  intimacies 
one   sees   in   the   world   have  had   some  such   origin,  and 


AN  INVASION.  381 

habit  will  reconcile  one  to  acquaintance  that  at  first  in- 
spired feelings  of  abhorrence  and  detestation.  I  'm  sure  I 
don 't  know  one  good  house  in  town  where  there  are  not 
certain  intimates  that  have  not  the  slightest  pretension, 
either  from  rank,  wealth,  distinction,  or  social  qualities, 
to  be  there.  And  yet,  there  they  are;  not  merely  as 
supernumeraries,  either,  but  very  prominent  and  foreground 
figures,  giving  advice  and  ofl'ering  counsel  on  questions 
of  family  policy,  and  writing  their  vulgar  names  on  every 
will,  codicil,  marriage-settlement,  and  trust-deed,  till  the}' 
seem  to  be  part  of  the  genealogical  tree,  to  which,  after 
all,  they  are  only  attached  like  fungi.  You  look  very 
unhappy,  my  poor  Kate,  at  all  this ;  but,  believe  me, 
the  system  will  outlive  both  of  us.  And  so,  now  to  your 
room,  and  dress  for  dinner.  But  I  forgot ;  you  have  n't 
got  a  room ;  so  Celestine  must  give  you  hers,  and  you 
will  be  close  beside  me,  and  we  shall  be  the  better  able 
to  concert  measures  about  these  Ricketts  folk,  who  really 
resemble  those  amiable  peasants  your  father  told  me  of, 
on  his  Irish  property,  and  whom  he  designated  as  '  squat- 
ters.'    I  am  delighted  that  I  have  n't  forgot  the  word." 

And  thus,  chatting  on,  Lady  Hester  restored  Kate's 
wonted  happiness  of  nature,  sadly  shaken  as  it  had  been 
by  the  contrarieties  of  the  morning.  Nothing,  too,  was 
easier  than  to  make  her  forget  a  source  of  irritation. 
Ever  better  satisfied  to  look  on  the  bright  side  of  life,  her 
inclinations  needed  but  little  aid  from  conviction  to  turn 
her  from  gloomy  themes  to  pleasant  ones ;  and  already 
some  of  the  absurdities  of  the  morning  were  recurring  to 
her  mind,  and  little  traits  of  Mrs.  Ricketts  and  her  brother 
were  involuntarily  coming  up  through  all  the  whirlpool 
of  annoyance  and  confusion  in  which  th  y  had  been 
submerged. 

The  coming  dinner,  too,  engrossed  some  share  of  her 
thoughts;  for  it  was  a  grand  entertainment,  to  which  all 
Lady  Hester's  most  distinguished  friends  were  invited. 
An  Archduke  and  a  Cardinal  were  to  make  part  of  the 
qompany,  and  Kate  looked  forward  to  meeting  these  great 
personages  with  no  common  interest.  It  was  less  the 
vulgar  curiosity  of  observing  the  manners  and  bearing  of 


382  THE  DALTONS. 

distinguished  characters,  than  the  delight  she  felt  in  follow- 
ing out  some  child-invented  narrative  of  her  future  life,  — 
some  fancied  story  of  her  own  career,  wherein  Princes  and 
Prelates  were  to  figure,  and  scenes  of  splendor  and  enjoy- 
ment to  follow  each  other  in  rapid  succession. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

THE   CONCLUSION    OF   A    "GRAND    DINNER." 

Lady  Hester's  dinner  of  that  day  was  a  "grand  one,"  — 
that  is  to  say,  it  was  one  of  those  great  displays  which, 
from  time  to  time,  are  offered  up  as  sacrifices  to  the  opinion 
of  the  world.  Few  of  her  own  peculiar  set  were  present. 
Some  she  omitted  herself;  others  had  begged  off  of  their 
own  accord.  Midchekoflf,  however,  was  there;  for,  however 
accustomed  to  the  tone  and  habits  of  a  life  of  mere  dissipa- 
tion, he  possessed  every  requirement  for  mixing  with  gen- 
eral society.  It  was  true  he  was  not  fond  of  meeting 
"Royal  Highnesses,"  before  whom  his  own  equivocal  rank 
sank  into  insignificance;  nor  did  he  love  "Cardinals,"  whose 
haughty  pretensions  always  over-topped  every  other  nobility. 
To  oblige  Lady  Hester,  however,  he  did  come,  and  conde- 
scended, for  "the  nonce,"  to  assume  his  most  amiable  of 
moods.  The  Marchesa  Guardoni,  an  old  coquette  of  the 
daj^s  of  the  French  Empire,  but  now  a  rigid  devotee,  and 
a  most  exclusive  moralist;  a  few  elderly  diplomates,  of  a 
quiet  and  cat-like  smoothness  of  manner,  with  certain  nota- 
bilities of  the  Court,  — made  up  the  party.  There  were  no 
English  whatever;  Jekyl,  who  made  out  the  list,  well 
knowing  that  Florence  offered  none  of  a  rank  sufficiently 
distinguished,  except  Norwood,  whose  temporary  absence 
from  the  city  was  rather  a  boon  than  the  reverse;  for  the 
noble  Viscount,  when  not  "slang,"  was  usually  silent,  and, 
by  long  intercourse  with  the  Turf  and  its  followers,  had 
ceased  to  feel  any  interest  in  topics  which  could  not  end 
in  a  wager. 

The  entertainment  was  very  splendid.  Nothing  was 
wanting  which  luxury  or  taste  could  contribute.  The  wines 
were  delicious;    the  cookery  perfect.      The   guests  were 


384  THE  DALTONS. 

courteous  and  pleasing ;  but  all  was  of  the  quietest,  —  none 
of  the  witty  sallies,  the  piquant  anecdotes,  the  brilliant 
repartees,  which  usually  pattered  like  hail  around  that 
board.  Still  less  were  heard  those  little  histories  of  private 
life  where  delinquencies  furnish  all  the  interest.  The  royal 
guest  imposed  a  reserve  which  the  presence  of  the  Car- 
dinal deepened.  The  conversation,  like  the  cuisine,  was 
flavored  for  fine  palates ;  both  were  light,  suggestive,  and  of 
easy  digestion.  Events  were  discussed  rather  than  the 
actors  in  them.  All  was  ease  and  simplicity;  but  it  was  a 
stately  kind  of  simplicity,  which  served  to  chill  those  that 
were  unaccustomed  to  it.  So  Kate  Dalton  felt  it;  and  how- 
ever sad  the  confession,  we  must  own  that  she  greatly  pre- 
ferred the  free  and  easy  tone  of  Lady  Hester's  midnight 
receptions  to  the  colder  solemnity  of  these  distinguished 
guests. 

Even  to  the  Cardinal's  whist- table,  everything  wore  a  look 
of  state  and  solemnity.  The  players  laid  down  their  cards 
with  a  measured  gravity,  and  scored  their  honors  with  the 
air  of  men  discharging  a  high  and  important  function.  As 
for  the  Archduke,  he  sat  upon  a  sofa  beside  Lady  Hester, 
suffering  himself  to  be  amused  by  the  resources  of  her  small- 
talk,  bowing  blandly  at  times,  occasionally  condescending 
to  a  smile,  but  rarely  uttering  even  a  monosyllable.  Even 
that  little  social  warmth  that  was  kindied  by  the  dinner- 
table  seemed  to  have  been  chilled  by  the  drawing-room, 
where  the  conversation  was  maintained  in  a  low,  soft  tone, 
that  never  rose  above  a  murmur.  It  may  be,  perhaps,  some 
sort  of  consolation  to  little  folk  to  think  that  Princes  are 
generally  sad-looking.  The  impassable  barrier  of  reserve 
around  them,  if  it  protect  from  all  the  rubs  and  frictions  of 
life,  equally  excludes  from  much  of  its  genial  enjo3^ment; 
and  all  those  little  pleasantries  which  grow  out  of  intimacy 
are  denied  those  who  have  no  equals. 

It  was  in  some  such  meditation  as  this  Kate  Dalton  sat, 
roused  occasionally  to  bestow  a  smile  or  a  passing  word  of 
acknowledgment  in  return  for  some  of  those  little  morsels  of 
compliment  and  flattery  which  old  courtiers  pay  as  their 
rightful  tribute  to  a  young  and  handsome  woman.  She 
was  suflSciently  accustomed  to  this  kind  of  homage  to  accept 


THE  CONCLUSION  OF  A  "GRAND  DINNER."        385 

it  without  losing,  even  for  an  instant,  any  train  of  thought 
her  mind  was  pursuing.  Nor  did  the  entrance  of  any  new 
guest,  a  number  of  whom  had  been  invited  for  the  evening, 
distract  her  from  her  half  revery. 

The  salons^  without  being  ci'owded,  now  showed  a  numer- 
ous company,  all  of  whom  exhibited  in  their  demeanor  that 
respectful  reserve  the  presence  of  royalty  ever  inspires.  It 
seemed,  indeed,  as  though  all  the  conversation  that  went 
forward  was  like  a  mere  "aside  "  to  that  more  important 
dialogue  which  was  maintained  beside  the  Prince. 

A  slow  but  measured  tide  of  persons  passed  before  him, 
bowing  with  respectful  deference  as  they  went.  With 
some  he  deigned  to  speak  a  few  words,  others  had  a  smile 
or  a  little  nod  of  recognition,  and  some  again  one  of  those 
cold  and  vacant  stares  with  which  great  people  are  occa- 
sionally wont  to  regard  little  ones.  His  Eoyal  Highness 
was  not  one  of  those  accomplished  princes  whose  pride  it 
is  to  know  the  name,  the  family,  the  pursuits,  and  predilec- 
tions of  each  new  presentee.  On  the  contrary,  he  was 
absent,  and  forgetful  to  a  degree  scarcely  credible;  his 
want  of  memory  betraying  him  into  innumerable  mistakes, 
from  which,  even  had  he  known,  no  adroitness  of  his  own 
could  have  extricated  him.  On  this  evening  he  had  not 
been  peculiarly  fortunate;  he  had  complimented  a  minister 
who  had  just  received  his  recall  in  disgrace ;  he  had  felici- 
tated a  young  lady  on  her  approaching  marriage,  which  had 
been  broken  off ;  while  the  burden  of  his  talk  to  Lady  Hester 
was  in  disparagement  of  those  foreigners  who  brought  a 
scandal  upon  his  court  by  habits  and  manners  which  would 
not  be  tolerated  in  their  own  countries.  Divorce,  or  even 
separation,  met  his  heavy  reprobation;  and  while  his  code 
of  morality,  on  the  whole,  exhibited  very  merciful  disposi- 
tions, he  bestowed  unmitigated  severity  upon  all  that  could 
shock  the  world's  opinion. 

To  this  Lady  Hester  had  to  listen  as  best  she  might,  —  a 
task  not  the  less  trying  and  difficult  from  the  ill-suppressed 
looks  of  malice  and  enjoyment  she  saw  on  every  side.  From 
all  these  causes  put  together,  the  occasion,  however  flatter- 
ing to  her  vanity,  was  far  from  being  pleasurable  to  her 
feelings,  and  she  longed  for  it  to  be  oVer.  The  Prince 
VOL.  I.  —  25 


386  THE  DALTONS. 

looked  wearied  enough,  but  somehow  there  is  nothing  like 
royalty  for  endurance ;  their  whole  lives  would  seem  to  teach 
the  lesson,  and  so  he  sat  on,  saying  a  stray  word,  bowing 
with  half-closed  lids,  and  looking  as  though  very  little  more 
would  set  him  fast  asleep. 

It  was  the  very  culminating  point  of  the  whole  evening's 
austerity;  one  of  those  little  pauses  which  now  and  then 
occur  had  succeeded  to  the  murmur  of  conversation.  The 
whist  party  had  been  broken  up,  and  the  Cardinal  was  slowly 
advancing  up  the  room,  the  company,  even  to  the  ladies, 
rising  respectfully  as  he  passed,  when  the  folding-doors 
were  thrown  wide,  and  a  servant  announced  Mr.  Scroope 
Purvis. 

If  the  name  was  unknown  to  the  assembled  guests,  there 
was  one  there  at  least  who  heard  it  with  a  sensation  of 
actual  terror,  and  poor  Kate  Dalton  sank  back  into  her 
chair  with  a  kind  of  instinctive  effort  at  concealment.  By 
this  time  the  door  had  closed  behind  him,  leaving  Mr.  Purvis 
standing  with  an  expression  of  no  small  bewilderment  at 
the  gorgeous  assembly  into  which  he  had  intruded. 

Lady  Hester's  quick  ear  had  caught  the  name,  even  from 
the  furthest  end  of  the  room ;  but  while  she  attributed  it  to 
the  mispronunciations  of  which  foreign  servants  are  so  lib- 
eral, looked  out  with  some  curiosity  for  him  who  owned  it. 

Nor  had  she  to  look  long,  for,  his  first  moment  of  sur- 
prise over,  Purvis  put  up  his  double  eye-glass  and  com- 
menced a  tour  of  the  rooms,  in  that  peculiarly  scrutinizing 
way  for  which  he  was  distinguished.  The  fact  that  all  the 
faces  were  unknown  to  him  seemed  to  impart  additional 
courage  to  his  investigations,  for  he  stared  about  with  as 
little  concern  as  he  might  have  done  in  a  theatre. 

Most  men  in  his  situation  would  have  been  egoist  enough 
to  have  thought  only  of  themselves  and  the  awkwardness  of 
their  own  position.  Purvis,  on  the  contrary,  had  an  eye 
for  everything;  from  the  chandeliers  on  the  walls  to  the 
crosses  on  the  dress-coats,  from  the  decorations  of  the 
salons  to  the  diamonds,  he  missed  nothing;  and  with 
such  impartial  fairness  did  he  bestow  his  glances,  that  the 
Cardinal's  cheeks  grew  red  as  his  own  stockings  as  Scroope 
sui-veyed  him.     At  last  he   reached  the  end  of  the  great 


THE  CONCLUSION  OF  A  "GRAND  DINNER.' 


387 


drawing-room,  and  found  himself  standing  in  front  of 
the  canopied  seat  where  the  Archduke  sat  with  Lady  Hester. 
Not  heeding,  if  he  even  remarked,  the  little  circle  which 
etiquette  had  drawn  in  front  of  the  Prince,  Purvis  advanced 
within  the  charmed  precincts  and  stared  steadily  at  the 
Duke, 

"I  perceive  that  one  of  your  friends  is  most  anxious  to 
pay  his  respects  to  you,  Lady  Hester,"  said  the  Prince, 
with  a  very  peculiar  smile. 


"I  beg  to  assure  you,  sir,  that  the  gentleman  is  unknown 
to  me ;  his  presence  here  is  an  honor  for  which  I  am  totally 
unprepared." 

"My  name  is  Purvis,  madam,  —  Sc-Sc-Scroope  Purvis. 
Miss  Dalton  knows  me;  and  my  sister  is  Mrs.  Ricketts." 

"You  will  find  Miss  Dalton  yonder,  sir,"  said  Lady  Hes- 
ter, all  whose  efforts  were  barely  sufficient  to  restrain  her 
temper. 

"I  see  her!"  cried  Purvis,  putting  his  glass  up;  "but 
she  *s  trying  to  escape  me.  She  's  got  a  man  with  a  re-re-red 
beard  before  her,  but  it  won't  do,  —  I'm  too  sh-sh-sharp  for 
that." 

The  Archduke  laughed,  and  heartily,  too,  at  this  sally; 


388  THE  DALTONS. 

and  Purvis,  emboldened  by  the  complaisance,  edged  more 
closely  towards  him  to  point  out  the  lady  in  question. 
"She  has  a  droll  kind  of  sc-sc-scarf  in  her  hair.  There! 
don't  you  see  her  now?  Have  you  ever  seen  the  pictures  in 
the  Pitti  Palace?" 

The  question  was  a  little  startling,  as  the  personage  to 
whom  it  was  addressed  had  his  residence  there.  The  Arch- 
duke, however,  merely  bowed  in  acquiescence,  and  Purvis 
went  on:  "My  sister  Zoe  copied  one  —  and  I  like  it  better 
than  the  Ti-Tit-Titian  itself.  We  smoked  it,  too,  and  made 
it  look  so  brown,  you  'd  never  guess  it  to  be  mo-mo-mo- 
modern.  " 

To  judge  from  the  bewildered  look  of  the  Duke,  the 
whole  of  this  speech  was  pure  Chaldee  to  him ;  and  when  he 
turned  to  Lady  Hester  for  an  explanation,  he  discovered 
that  she  had  left  her  seat.  Whether  mistaking  the  motion 
as  an  invitation  to  be  seated,  or  merely  acting  by  his  own 
impulses,  Scroope  crossed  over  and  sat  down  on  the  sofa 
with  a  degree  of  self-satisfaction  that  lighted  up  all  his 
features. 

"You  're  not  one  of  the  fa-family,  are  you?  "  asked  he. 

"I  have  not  that  honor,"  said  the  Prince,  with  a  bow. 

"I  thought  not.  I  suspected  that  there  was  a  tw-tw- 
twang  in  your  English  that  looked  foreign,  but  I  know  your 
face  quite  well." 

The  Duke  bowed  again. 

"Pretty  rooms,  these,"  said  Purvis,  with  his  glass  to  his 
eye;  "what  a  d-d- deal  of  money  they  must  have  cost! 
They  *re  going  it  fast,  these  Onslows." 

"  Indeed !  "  said  the  Prince,  who  only  half  understood  the 
remark. 

"I  know  it,"  said  Scroope,  with  a  confidential  wink. 
"Their  butcher  se-se-serves  us,  and  he  won't  give  anything 
till  they  have  sent  their  orders ;  and  as  for  wine,  they  drink 
Bordeaux  in  the  servants'  hall.  I  don't  know  what  you 
have,  but  a  d-d-deuced  sight  better  than  ever  1  get." 

"Good  wine,  however,  can  be  had  here,  I  hope,"  said  the 
Duke,  blandly. 

"Yes,  if  you  sm-sm-smuggle  it,"  said  Scroope,  with  a 
knowing  cackle;  while,  to  add  poignancy  to  the  remark,  he 


THE  CONCLUSION  OF  A  "GRAND  DINNER."        389 

nudged  the  Prince  with  his  elbow.  "That's  the  only  way 
to  have  it.     The  st-stupid  Government  sees  nothing." 

"Is  that  the  case,  sir?"  asked  the  Prince,  with  a  degree 
of  interest  he  had  not  manifested  before. 

"To  be  sure  it  is.  My  sister  Zoe  never  pays  duty  on 
anything;  and  if  you  like  your  c-c-cigars  cheap,  just  t-t-tell 
me,  that 's  all.  The  G-G-Grand-Duke  never  got  a  sixpence 
of  my  money  yet,  and  if  I  kn-know  myself,  he  never 
shall." 

"Do  you  bear  him  any  grudge,  sir,  that  you  say  this  so 
emphatically  ?  " 

"No;  not  at  all.  They  tell  me  that  he's  good-hearted, 
although  somewhat  we- weak  in  the  a-a-attic  story,"  —  and 
here  Scroope  tapped  his  forehead  significantly,  — "but  that 's 
in  the  family.  My  sister  Zoe  could  tell  you  such  st-stories 
about  them  you  'd  die  of  laughing;  and  then  there  's  Jekyl 
takes  them  off  so  well!  It's  c-c-capital  fun.  He  gives  a 
dia-dia-dialogue  between  the  Grand-Duke  and  the  Pope's 
Nuncio  that's  better  than  a  farce." 

How  far  Mr.  Purvis  might  have  been  carried  in  his  zeal 
to  be  agreeable  there  is  no  saying,  when  Lady  Hester  came 
up,  with  Kate  leaning  on  her  arm. 

"This  gentleman  claims  acquaintance  with  you,  Miss 
Dal  ton,"  said  she,  haughtily. 

"Oh,  to  be  sure,  she  knows  me;  and  I  have  a  letter  from 
her  —  her  fa- father,"  said  Purvis,  drawing  forth  a  packet 
like  a  postman's. 

"Miss  Dalton  would  prefer  being  seated,  sir,"  said  Lady 
Hester,  while  she  motioned  towards  another  part  of  the 
room. 

"Yes,  yes,  of  course;  we'll  find  out  a  snug  co-corner 
somewhere  for  a  chat.  Just  take  my  arm,  will  you?  Let 
us  get  away  from  all  these  great  '  Dons,'  with  their  stars 
and  crosses."  And,  without  waiting  for  Kate's  reply,  he 
drew  her  arm  within  his  own,  and  set  out  in  that  little 
shuffling  trot  which  he  always  assumed  when  he  fancied 
he  had  business  on  hand. 

The  ridicule  of  being  associated  with  such  a  companion 
would  at  any  other  moment  have  overwhelmed  Kate  Dalton 
with  shame;  but  now,  whether  from  the  few  words  which 


390  THE   DALTONS. 

Lady  Hester  had  whispered  in  her  ear,  whether  the  fact  of 
his  unauthorized  appearance,  or  whether  it  were  the  dread 
of  some  greater  disgrace  to  follow,  she  actually  felt  a  sense 
of  relief  in  the  continuous  flow  of  twaddle  which  he  kept  up 
as  they  passed  down  the  room. 

"  Who  was  that  smiled  as  we  passed  ?  "  asked  he. 

"Prince  Midchekoff." 

"Oh,  that  was  he,  was  it?     You  must  introduce  me." 

"Not  now,  — pray,  not  now;  at  any  other  time,"  cried 
she,  in  perfect  terror. 

"Well,  but  don't  forget  it.  Zoe  would  never  forgive  me 
if  I  told  her  that  I  lost  the  op-op-opportunity ;  she  wants  to 
know  him  so  very  much." 

"Of  course,  at  another  time,"  said  Kate,  hurrying  him 
along  with  increasing  speed. 

"Who's  he?"  asked  Purvis,  as  a  tall  and  stately  per- 
sonage bowed  blandly  to  Kate. 

"The  Austrian  Minister." 

"Not  the  fellow  that  st-st-strangled  the  Emperor?  Oh, 
I  forgot;  he  was  a  Russian,  wasn't  he?  They  got  him 
down  and  ch-ch-choked  him,  — ha,  ha,  ha!  There  's  a  man 
with  a  red  moustache,  so  like  the  fellow  who  sells  the  bou- 
bou- bouquets  at  the  Casciui." 

"A  Hungarian  magnate,"  whispered  Kate. 

"Is  he,  though?  Then  let's  have  another  look  at  him. 
He  has  as  many  gold  chains  about  him  as  a  shop  on  the 
Ponte  Vecchio.     Zoe  would  like  him,  he  's  so  odd." 

At  last,  but  not  without  great  efforts,  Kate  succeeded  in 
reaching  a  small  chamber,  where  two  others  ahead}'  were 
seated,  and  whose  figures  were  undistinguishable  in  the 
obscurity  of  a  studiously  shaded  lamp, 

"Isn't  it  strange,  she  never  asked  for  Zoe?"  said 
Purvis,  as  he  took  his  seat  on  a  sofa;  "not  to  inquire  for 
a  person  sick  under  her  own  r-r-roof?" 

"Lady  Hester  is  not  acquainted  with  Mrs.  Ricketts." 

"Well,  but  sh-sh-she  ought  to  be.  Zoe  made  a  party  for 
her,  —  a  d-d-dmner  party,  —  and  had  Hagg-Haggerstone 
and  Foglass,  and  the  rest  of  them.  And  after  all,  you 
know,  they  are  only  b-bankers,  these  Onslows,  and  need  n't 
give  themselves  airs." 


THE  CONCLUSION  OF  A  "GRAND  DINNER."        391 

"  You  have  a  letter  for  me,  Mr.  Purvis  ?  Will  you  pardon 
my  impatience  —  " 

"  Yes,  to  be  sure.  I  've  a  letter,  and  an  enclosure  in  it, 
too ;  at  least,  it  feels  crisp  like  a  note,  —  a  bank-note ; 
that 's  the  reason  you  're  impatient.  Perhaps  the  re-re- 
remittance  was  long  a-coming,   eh?" 

Kate  made  no  reply  to  this  speech,  but  her  cheek  grew 
scarlet  as  she  heard  it. 

Purvis,  meanwhile,  spread  his  packet  of  papers  before 
him,  and  began  his  search  for  Dalton's  letter. 

"No,  that  ain't  it;  that's  from  Foglass,  — all  about  Nor- 
wood, and  his  N-N-Newmarket  affair.  That 's  a  letter 
from  Lord  Gullston's  valet,  with  such  a  droll  ac-account  of 
the  whole  family.  Zoe  recom-mended  him;  and  the  poor 
fellow 's  very  grateful,  for  he  writes  about  all  that  goes  on 
in  the  house.  Lady  G.,  it  seems,  has  the  temper  of  a 
f-f-fiend.  Well,  don't  be  im-impatient;  I'll  find  your 
father's  letter  in  a  minute.  He  writes  such  a  cr-cr-cramp 
old  hand,  one  should  detect  it  at  once.  I  ta-take  it  that  he  's 
a  bit  of  a  character,  —  the  old  gen-gentleman.  I  'm  sure  he 
is;  but  what  have  I  done  with  his  letter?  Oh,  here  it  is! 
here  it  is!  and  '  with  haste  '  written  on  the  corner,  too." 

Kate  caught  the  letter  impatiently,  and,  without  any 
thought  for  Purvis  or  the  place,  tore  it  open  at  once.  In 
doing  so,  the  enclosure  fell  to  the  ground  without  her  per- 
ceiving it;  and,  stranger  still,  it  escaped  the  attention  of 
Purvis ;  but  that  worthy  man,  not  exactly  venturing  to  read 
over  her  shoulder,  had  established  himself  directly  in  front, 
where,  with  his  double  eye-glass,  he  scanned  every  change 
in  her  features  during  the  perusal. 

"All  well  at  home,  I  hope,  eh?  How  she  changes  color," 
muttered  he  to  himself.  "  Nobody  ill ;  nobody  dead,  eh  ?  " 
asked  he,  louder.  "It  must  be  something  serious,  though; 
she  's  trembling  like  ague.  Let  me  give  you  a  chair,  — 
that  is,  if  I  can  f-find  one  in  this  little  den;  they've  got 
nothing  but  d-divans  all  round  it."  And  he  hurried  forth 
into  the  larger  salon  in  search  of  a  seat. 

It  was  not  without  considerable  trouble  to  himself  and 
inconvenience  to  various  others  that  he  at  last  succeeded, 
and  returned  to  the  boudoir  with  a  massive  arm-chair  in 


392  THE   DALTONS.  * 

his  hands.  But  what  was  his  dismay  to  find  that  Miss 
Dalton  had  made  her  escape  in  the  mean  while  ?  In  vain  did 
he  seek  her  through  the  salons,  which  now  were  rapidly 
thinning;  the  distinguished  guests  having  already  departed. 

A  stray  group  lingered  here  and  there,  conversing  in  a 
low  tone;  and  around  the  fires  were  gathered  little  knots 
of  ladies  muffled  and  cloaked,  and  only  waiting  for  the 
carriages.  It  was  like  a  stage,  when  the  performance  was 
over.  Scarcely  deigning  to  notice  the  little  man,  who, 
with  palpable  keenness  of  scrutinj',  pursued  his  search  in 
every  quarter,  they  gradually  moved  off,  leaving  Purvis 
alone  to  tread  the  "banquet-hall  deserted."  The  servants, 
as  they  extinguished  the  lights,  passed  and  repassed  him 
without  remark ;  so  that,  defeated  and  disappointed,  he  was 
obliged  at  last  to  retire,  sorrowfully  confessing  to  his  own 
heart  how  little  success  had  attended  his  bold  enterprise. 

As  he  passed  along  the  galleries  and  descended  the  stairs, 
he  made  various  little  efforts  to  open  a  conversation  with 
some  one  or  other  of  the  servants;  but  these  dignified 
officials  responded  to  his  questions  in  the  dryest  and 
shortest  manner;  and  it  was  only  as  he  reached  the  great 
gate  of  the  palace  that  he  chanced  upon  one  courteous 
enough  to  hear  him  to  the  end  in  his  oft-repeated  question 
of  "Who  was  th-th-that  with  the  large  st-st-star  on  his 
breast,  and  a  wh-wh- white  beard?" 

The  porter  stared  at  the  speaker,  and  said  respectfully,  ■= — 

"The  signer  probably  means  the  Archduke?  " 

"Not  the  Archduke  Fr-Fr-Fr  — " 

"Yes,  sir,"  said  the  man;  and  closed  the  heavy  door 
after  him,  leaving  Purvis  in  a  state  of  astonishment,  and  as 
much  shame  as  his  nature  permitted  him  to  feel.  Neither 
upon  himself  nor  his  sensations  have  we  any  intention  to 
dwell;  and  leaving  him  to  pursue  his  way  homeward,  we 
beg  to  return  once  more  within  those  walls  from  which  he 
had  just  taken  his  departure. 

If  Lady  Hester's  grand  company  had  gone,  the  business 
of  the  evening  was  by  no  means  over;  on  the  contrary,  it 
was  the  hour  of  her  night  receptions,  and  now  the  accus- 
tomed guests  of  those  favored  precincts  came  dropping  in 
from  theatres,  and  operas,  and  late  dinners.     These  men  of 


THE  CONCLUSION  OF  A  "GRAND  DINNER."        393 

pleasure  looked  jaded  and  tired,  as  usual;  and,  except  the 
little  tinkling  sounds  of  Jekyl's  small  treble,  no  other  voice 
sounded  as  they  walked  along  the  corridors. 

When  they  entered  Lady  Hester's  boudoir,  they  found 
that  lady  recounting  to  Midchekofif  the  whole  circumstances 
of  the  morning's  adventure,  —  a  recital  which  she  continued 
without  other  interruption  than  a  smile  or  a  nod,  or  a  little 
gesture  of  the  hand  to  each  of  the  new  arrivals  as  he  came 
in.     If  the  lady's  manner  was  devoid  of  all  ceremony,  that 


of  the  gentlemen  was  less  ceremonious  still;  for  they 
stretched  themselves  on  divans,  rested  their  legs  upon 
chairs,  and  stood  back  to  the  fire,  with  a  degree  of  careless 
ease  that  bespoke  them  thoroughly  at  home,  —  Jekyl,  per- 
haps, the  only  one  present  who  mingled  with  this  freedom 
a  certain  courteous  respect  that  no  familiarity  made  him 
ever  forget. 

"And  they  are  still  here?  "  asked  the  Prince.  "Actually 
in  the  house  at  this  moment  ?  " 

"At  this  very  moment!"  responded  she,  emphatically. 

"The  whole  thing  passes  belief,"  exclaimed  he. 

And  now  the  listless  loungers  drew  their  chairs  closer  to 
hear  the  story,    and  laugh,  as  men  do,  who  are  seldont 


394  THE  DALTONS. 

moved  to  mirth  save  when  ridicule  or  malice  are  the 
provocatives. 

"But  you  haven't  heard  the  worst  yet,"  said  Midchekoflf. 
"Pray  tell  them  of  your  visitor  of  this  evening." 

And  Lady  Hester  narrated  the  appearance  of  Mr.  Purvis, 
who,  having  secured  his  entrance  by  a  visit  to  his  sister, 
had  so  unceremoniously  presented  himself  in  the  drawing- 
room. 

"Heaven  knows  what  he  said  to  his  Royal  Highness 
when  I  was  away.  To  judge  from  his  face,  it  must  have 
been  something  atrocious;  and  the  last  thing  he  said  on 
leaving  was,  '  I  must  try  and  not  forget  your  agreeable 
friend's  name.'  " 

"You  might  as  well  have  invited  me  as  have  had  your 
'friend'  Purvis,  after  all,"  said  a  young  Italian  noble, 
whose  political  opinions  found  no  favor  at  court. 

"But  what  do  you  mean  to  do,  my  Lady?"  asked 
Midchekoflf.  "Is  the  enemy  to  hold  undisputed  possession 
of  the  fortress  ?  " 

"It  is  precisely  on  that  point  I  want  advice.  Prince." 

"What  if  we  form  ourselves  into  a  council  of  state?" 
Baid  an  Austrian  general. 

"By  all  means,"  said  the  others,  who  now  formed  a  semi- 
circle in  front  of  Lady  Hester's  sofa. 

"The  youngest  officer  always  speaks  first,"  said  the 
Austrian. 

"Then  that  duty  is  mine,"  said  a  little  man  of  about 
eighty-two  or  three,  and  who  had  represented  France  at 
half  the  courts  of  Europe.  "  I  should  advise  a  protocol  in 
the  form  of  a  protest.  It  is  a  palpable  invasion  of  terri- 
tory, but,  followed  by  an  ample  apology  and  a  speedy 
evacuation,  may  be  forgiven.  There  are  historical  war- 
rants for  such  transgressions  being  accepted  as  acts  almost 
of  compulsion." 

"The  case  of  Anspach,  for  instance,"  said  the  Austrian, 
with  a  malicious  smile. 

"Precisely,  General, —  precisely  a  case  in  point,"  rejoined 
the  old  diplomate,  with  a  bow  and  a  smile  that  almost  seemed 
grateful.     "The  shortest  road  to  victory  is  ever  the  best." 

"Let's  try  a  fever,  or  a  fire.     By  Jove!  the  sacrifice  of 


THE  CONCLUSION  OF  A  "GRAND  DINNER."       395 

* 

a  few  chairs  and  window-curtains  would  be  a  cheap  alter- 
native," said  George  Onslow. 

"Why  not  essay  a  compromise,  my  Lady?"  interposed 
a  young  German  secretary  of  legation ;  "  a  mixed  garrison, 
like  that  of  Rastadt?" 

"Lady  Hester's  troops  to  mount  guard  alternately  with 
the  Rickettses'.  Downright  treason,  — base  treason!" 
exclaimed  another. 

"What  would  you  think  of  a  special  mission,  my  Lady?" 
simpered  Jekyl.  "It  would  at  least  serve  to  enlighten  us 
as  to  the  views  of  the  enemy.  The  discussion  of  the  past 
often  throws  much  light  on  the  future." 

"Jekyl  wants  to  earn  a  decoration,"  said  another,  laugh- 
ing.    "He  intends  to  be  the  envoy  himself." 

"I'll  wager  that  I  know  Midchekoff's  policy,"  said  a 
young  Sicilian,  who  always  spoke  with  a  frank  fearlessness 
that  is  most  rare  with  other  Italians. 

"Well,  let  us  hear  it,"  said  the  Prince,  gravely. 

"You  would  counsel  the  national  expedient  of  retiring 
before  the  enemy,  and  making  the  country  too  cold  to  hold 
them?" 

"How  absurd!"  said  Lady  Hester,  half  angrily;  "give 
up  one's  house  to  a  set  of  people  who  have  had  the  imper- 
tinence to  intrude  themselves  unasked  ?  " 

"And  yet  Giasconi  is  right,"  said  the  Prince.  "It  is  the 
best  suggestion  we  have  heard  yet.  Hostilities  imply,  to  a 
certain  extent,  equality;  negotiation  is  an  acknowledgment 
of  acquaintanceship;  a  dignified  retreat,  however,  avoids 
either  difficulty." 

"In  that  case,  let 's  starve  them  out,"  said  George. 
"Suffer  no  supplies  to  be  thrown  into  the  place,  and  exact 
the  most  humble  terms  of  submission." 

"Then,  where  to  go?  that 's  another  question,"  said  Lady 
Hester. 

"His  Eminence  expects  to  see  you  in  Rome,"  whispered 
the  Abb^,  who  had  waited  for  an  opportunity  for  the  sug- 
gestion.    "I  believe  he  relies  on  a  promise," 

"Very  true;  but  not  just  yet.  Besides,  the  season  is 
almost  over,"  said  Lady  Hester,  with  a  slight  degree  of 
confusion. 


396  THE  DALTONS. 

• 

"Don't  be  frightened,  Abbe,"  whispered  Jekyl  in  D'Es- 
monde's  ear.  "Her  Ladyship  is  assuredly  '  going  to  Rome ' 
later  on." 

The  priest  smiled,  with  an  expression  that  told  how  fully 
he  comprehended  the  phrase. 

"There  's  a  little  villa  of  mine,  on  the  Lake  of  Como, 
very  much  at  your  service,"  said  Midchekoflf,  with  the  easy 
indifference  of  one  suggesting  something  perfectly  indiffer- 
ent to  him. 

"  Do  you  mean  La  Rocca,  Prince  ?  "  added  the  Sicilian. 

"Yes.  They  tell  me  it  is  prettily  situated,  but  I  've 
never  seen  it.  The  Empress  passed  a  few  weeks  there  last 
year,  and  liked  it,"  said  Midchekoff,  languidly. 

"  Really,  Prince,  if  I  don't  know  how  to  accept,  I  am  still 
more  at  a  loss  for  power  to  refuse  your  offer." 

"When  will  you  go?"  said  he,  dryly,  and  taking  out  his 
memorandum- book  to  write. 

"What  says  Mr.  Jekyl?"  said  Lady  Hester,  turning  to 
that  bland  personage,  who,  without  apparently  attending 
to  what  went  forward,  had  heard  every  syllable  of  it. 

"This  is  Tuesday,"  said  Jekyl.  ''There  's  not  much  to 
be  done;  the  villa  wants  for  nothing:  I  know  it  perfectly." 

"Ah,  it's  comfortable,  then?"  said  the  Prince,  with  a 
slight  degree  of  animation. 

"La  Rocca  is  all  that  Contarete's  taste  could  make  it," 
replied  Jekyl. 

"Poor  Contarete!  he  was  an  excellent  maitre  d' hotel" 
said  Midchekoff.  "He's  still  with  me,  somewhere;  I 
rather  believe  in  Tartary,  just  now." 

"Your  Ladyship  may  leave  this  on  Thursday,"  said 
Jekyl,  who  well  knew  that  he  was  paying  the  most  flattering 
compliment  to  Midchekoff  in  naming  the  shortest  possible 
time  for  preparation. 

"Will  this  be  inconvenient,  Prince?  "  asked  Lady 
Hester. 

"No;  not  in  the  least.  If  Jekyl  will  precede  you  by  a 
couple  of  hours,  I  trust  all  will  be  ready." 

"  With  your  permission,  then,  we  will  say  Thursday," 
said  she,  who,  with  her  habitual  delight  in  novelty,  was 
already  wild  with  pleasure  at  the  whole  scheme. 


THE  CONCLUSION  OF  A  "GRAND  DINNER."       397 

"  Perhaps  I  '11  come  and  visit  you,"  said  Midchekoflf.  "  I 
shall  have  to  go  to  Vienna  soon." 

Lady  Hester  bowed  and  smiled  her  acknowledgments  for 
this  not  over-gracious  speech. 

"May  we  follow  you,  too.  Lady  Hester?"  asked  the 
Sicilian. 

•• '  We  expect  that  much  from  your  loyalty,  gentlemen. 
Our  exile  will  test  your  fidelity." 

"There's  something  or  other  inconvenient  about  the 
stables,"  said  Midchekoflf,  "but  I  forget  what  it  is;  they 
are  up  a  mountain,  or  down  in  a  valley.  I  don't  remember  it, 
but  the  Emperor  said  it  was  wrong,  and  should  be  changed." 

"  They  are  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  lake,  Prince,"  inter- 
posed Jekyl,  "  and  you  must  cross  over  to  your  carriage  by 
boat." 

"Oh,  delightful, — quite  delightful!"  exclaimed  Lady 
Hester,  with  childish  joy,  at  the  novelty. 

"La  Rocca  is  on  a  little  promontory,"  said  Jekyl,  "only 
approachable  from  the  water,  for  the  mountain  is  quite 
inaccessible." 

"  You  shall  have  a  road  made,  if  you  wish  it,"  said  the 
Prince,  languidly. 

"On  no  account.  I  wouldn't  for  the  world  destroy  the 
isolation  of  the  spot." 

"  Do  you  happen  to  remember,  Mr.  Jekyl,  if  there  be  any 
pictures  there?" 

"  There  are  some  perfect  gems,  by  Greuze." 

"Oh!  that's  where  they  are,  is  it?  I  could  never  call  to 
mind  where  they  were  left." 

The  conversation  now  became  general,  in  discussing  Lady 
Hester's  change  of  abode,  the  life  they  should  all  lead  when 
on  the  lake,  and  the  innumerable  stories  that  would  be  cir- 
culated to  account  for  her  sudden  departure-  This  same 
mystery  was  not  the  least  agreeable  feature  of  the  whole, 
and  Lady  Hester  never  wearied  in  talking  of  all  the  specula- 
tions her  new  step  was  certain  to  originate ;  and  although 
some  of  the  company  regretted  the  approaching  closure  of  a 
house  which  formed  the  resource  of  every  evening,  others 
were  not  sorry  at  the  prospect  of  anything  which  oflfered  a 
change  to  the  monotony  of  their  lives. 


398  THE  DALTONS. 

"You'll  come  to  breakfast  to-morrow,  Mr.  Jekyl,"  said 
Lady  Hester,  as  he  followed  the  departing  guests.  "  I  shall 
want  you  the  whole  day." 

He  bowed  with  his  hand  to  his  heart,  and  never  did  feat- 
ures of  like  mould  evince  a  deeper  aspect  of  devotion. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

jektl's  counsels. 

One  of  the  most  striking  characteristics  of  our  present  age 
is  the  singular  mixture  of  frivolity  and  seriousness,  the 
almost  absurd  contrast  between  grave  inquiry  and  reckless 
dissipation,  which  pervades  the  well-to-do  classes.  Never 
was  there  a  period  when  merely  sensual  gratification  was 
more  highly  prized  and  paid  for ;  and  never,  perhaps,  a  time 
when  every  rank  in  life  was  more  eager  in  the  pursuit  of 
knowledge.  To  produce  this  state  of  things  a  certain  com- 
promise was  necessary  ;  and  while  the  mere  man  of  pleasure 
affected  a  taste  for  literature  and  politics,  the  really  active- 
minded  either  sought  his  relaxation,  or  extended  his  influence, 
by  mingling  in  scenes  of  frivolity  and  amusement. 

The  age  which  made  dandies  philosophers  made  lord 
chancellors  droll,  and  bishops  eccentric.  A  paradoxical 
spirit  was  abroad,  and  it  seemed  to  be  a  matter  of  pride 
with  every  one  to  do  something  out  of  his  station.  The 
whole  temper  of  society  and  the  tone  of  conversation 
exhibited  this  new  taste. 

Lady  Hester  Onslow  was  not  a  bad  specimen  of  the  pre- 
vailing mania.  There  was  by  nature  a  certain  fidgety, 
capricious  volatility  about  her  that  defied  everything  like 
a  regular  pursuit  or  a  continued  purpose.  With  a  reason- 
ably quick  apprehension  and  no  judgment,  in  being  every- 
thing, she  became  nothing.  Always  mistaking  sympathies 
for  convictions,  it  was  quite  sufficient  to  interest  her  imagi- 
nation to  secure  her  adhesion,  — not,  indeed,  that  it  was 
worth  much  when  obtained,  seeing  that  she  was  but  a 
feeble  ally  at  the  best.  Her  employment  of  the  day 
was  a  type  of  herself.  The  mornings  were  passed  in  mes- 
meric experiences  with  her  doctor,  or  what  she  fancied 
were  theological  discussions  with   the  Abbe   D'Esmonde. 


400  THE   DALTONS. 

It  would  be  diflScult  to  say  in  which  the  imaginative  exal- 
tation more  predominated.  All  the  authentic  and  incred- 
ible phenomena  of  the  one,  all  the  miraculous  pretensions 
of  the  other,  were  too  little  for  a  credulity  that  stopped  at 
nothing.  Of  second  sight,  remote  sympathy,  and  saintly 
miracles  she  never  could  hear  enough.  "  Give  me  facts," 
she  would  say;  by  which  she  meant  narratives.  "I  will 
have  no  theories,  doctor."  "  Don't  bear  me  down  with 
arguments.  Monsieur  I'Abbe."  "Facts,  and  facts  alone, 
have  any  influence  with  me." 

Now,  such  facts  as  she  asked  for  were  easily  obtainable, 
a,nd  the  greatest  miser  need  not  have  grudged  her  an  ample 
meal  of  them.  Many  of  the  facts,  too,  possessed  the  pleas- 
ing feature  of  being  personal  in  their  interest.  One  day 
it  was  a  charming  young  patient  of  the  doctor,  who,  hav- 
ing touched  a  tress  of  Lady  Hester's  hair,  made  the  most 
astonishing  revelations  of  her  Ladyship's  disposition ;  tell- 
ing facts  of  her  feelings,  her  nature,  and  even  her  affec- 
tions, that  "  she  knew  were  only  confided  to  her  own  heart." 
Various  little  incidents  of  her  daily  life  were  foretold,  even 
to  such  minute  matters  as  the  purchase  of  articles  of  jew- 
elry, which  she  had  not  even  seen  at  the  time,  and  only 
met  her  eyes  by  accident  afterwards.  The  Abbe,  with 
equal  success,  assured  her  of  the  intense  interest  taken  in 
her  by  the  Church.  Beautifully  bound  and  richly  illus- 
trated books  were  offered  to  her,  with  the  flattering  addi- 
tion that  prayers  were  then  being  uttered  at  many  a  shrine 
for  her  enlightenment  in  their  perusal.  Less  asked  to 
conform  herself  to  a  new  belief  than  to  reconcile  the  faith 
to  her  own  notions,  she  was  given  the  very  widest  lati- 
tude to  her  opinions.  If  she  grew  impatient  at  argument, 
a  subtle  illustration,  an  apt  metaphor,  or  sometimes  a 
happy  mot  settled  the  question.  The  Abbe  was  a  clever 
talker,  and  varied  his  subjects  with  all  the  skill  of  a  mas- 
ter. He  knew  how  to  invoke  to  his  aid  all  that  poetry, 
art,  and  romance  could  contribute.  The  theme  was  a  grand 
one  when  the  imagination  was  to  be  interested,  and  really 
deserved  a  better  listener;  for  save  when  the  miraculous 
interposition  of  saints  or  the  gaudy  ceremonials  of  the 
Church  were  spoken  of,  she  heard  the  subject  with  indif- 


JEKYL'S  COUNSELS.  401 

ference,  if  not  apathy.  The  consideration  of  self  could, 
however,  always  bring  her  back ;  and  it  was  ever  a  suc- 
cessful flattery  to  assure  her  how  fervently  such  a  cardinal 
prayed  for  her  "  right-mindedness,"  and  how^  eagerly  even 
his  Holiness  looked  forward  to  the  moment  of  counting 
her  among  his  children. 

Her  very  tastes  —  those  same  tastes  that  ascetic  Protes- 
tantism was  always  cavilling  at  —  were  beautifully  Roman. 
The  Church  liked  display.  Witness  her  magnificence  and 
splendor,  her  glorious  cathedrals,  the  pomp  and  grandeur  of 
her  ceremonial!  As  to  music,  the  choir  of  the  "  Duomo  " 
was  seraphic,  and  needed  not  the  association  of  the  dim 
vaulted  aisles,  the  distant  altar,  and  the  checkered  rays 
of  stained-glass  windows  to  wrap  the  soul  in  a  fervor  of 
enthusiasm.  Even  beauty  was  cherished  by  the  Church, 
and  the  fair  Madonnas  were  types  of  an  admiring  love 
that  was  beautifully  catholic  in  its  worship. 

With  all  this,  the  work  of  conversion  was  a  Penelope's 
web,  that  must  each  day  be  begun  anew,  for,  as  the  hour 
of  the  Cascini  drew  nigh,  Lady  Hester's  carriage  drew  up, 
and  mesmerism,  miracles,  and  all  gave  way  to  the  fresher 
interests  of  courtly  loungers,  chit-chat,  and  "  bouquets  of 
camellias." 

For  the  next  hour  or  so,  her  mind  was  occupied  with  the 
gossiping  stories  of  Florentine  life,  its  surface  details  all 
recounted  by  the  simpering  dandies  who  gathered  around 
her  carriage;  its  deeper  —  not  unfrequently  darker  —  his- 
tories being  the  province  of  Mr.  Albert  Jekyl.  Then  home 
to  luncheon,  for,  as  Haggerstone  related,  she  dined  always 
after  the  Opera,  and  it  was  then,  somewhere  verging  on 
midnight,  that  she  really  began  to  live.  Then,  in  all  the 
blaze  of  dress  and  jewels,  with  beauty  little  impaired  by 
years,  and  a  manner  the  perfection  of  that  peculiar  school 
to  which  she  attached  herself,  she  was  indeed  a  most  at- 
tractive person. 

Kate  Dalton's  life  was,  of  course,  precisely  the  same. 
Except  the  few  hours  given  to  controversial  topics,  and 
which  she  passed  in  reading,  and  the  occasional  change 
from  driving  to  riding  in  the  Cascini,  Kate's  day  was  ex- 
actly that  of  her  friend.  Not,  however,  with  the  same 
VOL.  I.  —  26 


402  THE  DALTONS. 

results ;  for  while  one  was  wearied  with  the  same  routine  of 
unvarying  pleasure,  tired  of  the  monotonous  circle  of  amuse- 
ment, the  other  became  each  day  more  and  more  enamored 
of  a  life  so  unchanging  in  its  happiness.  What  was  uni- 
formity to  Lady  Hester,  imparted  a  sense  of  securit}'  to 
Kate.  It  was  not  alone  the  splendor  that  surrounded  her, 
the  thousand  objects  of  taste  and  elegance  that  seemed  to 
nniltiply  around  them,  that  captivated  her  so  much,  it  was 
the  absence  of  all  care,  the  freedom  from  every  thought  that 
this  state  was  a  mere  passing  one.  This  Kate  felt  to  be  the 
very  highest  of  enjoyments,  and  when  at  night  she  whispered 
to  herself,  "To-morrow  will  be  like  to-day,"  she  had  said 
everything  that  could  brighten  anticipation. 

Her  father's  letter  was  the  first  shock  to  this  delightful 
illusion.  Her  own  false  position  of  splendor,  in  contrast  to 
his  poverty,  now  came  up  palpably  before  her,  and  in  place 
of  those  blissful  reveries  in  which  she  often  passed  hours, 
there  rose  to  her  mind  the  bitter  self-accusings  of  a  penitent 
spirit.  She  never  slept  through  the  night ;  the  greater  part 
of  it  she  spent  in  tears.  Her  absence  from  home,  brief  as 
it  was,  was  quite  enough  to  make  her  forget  much  of  its 
daily  life.  She  could,  it  is  true,  recall  the  penury  and  the 
privation,  but  not  the  feelings  that  grew  out  of  them. 
"  How  changed  must  he  have  become  to  stoop  to  this !  "  was 
the  exclamation  that  she  uttered  again  and  again.  ''  Where 
was  all  that  Dalton  pride  they  used  to  boast  of?  What  be- 
come of  that  family  dignity  which  once  was  their  bulwark 
against  every  blow  of  Fortune?  " 

To  these  thoughts  succeeded  the  sadder  one,  of  what 
course  remained  for  her  to  adopt?  —  a  ditticulty  the  greater 
since  she  but  half  understood  what  was  required  of  her. 
He  spoke  of  a  bill,  and  yet  the  letter  contained  none : 
before  she  broke  the  seal,  it  felt  as  though  there  was  an  en- 
closure, yet  she  found  none ;  and  if  there  were,  of  what  use 
would  it  be?  It  was  perfectly  impossible  that  she  could 
approach  Sir  Stafford  with  such  a  request ;  every  sense  of 
shame,  delicacy,  and  self-respect  revolted  at  the  very 
thought.  Still  less  could  she  apply  to  Lady  Hester,  whose 
extravagant  and  wasteful  habits  always  placed  her  in  want 
of  money ;  and  yet  to  refuse  her  father  on  grounds  which  he 


JEKYL'S  COUNSELS.  403 

would  deem  purely  selfish  was  equally  out  of  the  question. 
She  well  knew  that  in  a  moment  of  anger  and  impatience  — 
stung  by  what  he  would  call  the  ingratitude  of  his  children 
—  he  would  probably  himself  write  to  Sir  Stafford,  narrating 
every  circumstance  that  drove  him  to  the  step.  Oh,  that 
she  had  never  left  him,  —  never  ceased  to  live  the  life  of 
want  and  hardship  to  which  time  had  accustomed  her!  all 
the  poverty  she  had  ever  known  brought  no  such  humiliation 
as  this !  Poor  Nelly's  lot  now  was  a  hundredfold  superior 
to  hers.  She  saw,  too,  that  reserve  once  broken  on  such  a 
theme,  her  father  would  not  scruple  to  renew  the  application 
as  often  as  he  needed  money.  It  was  clear  enough  that  he 
saw  no  embarrassment,  nor  any  difficulty  for  her  in  the 
matter;  that  it  neither  could  offend  her  feelings  nor  com- 
promise her  position.  Could  she  descend  to  an  evasive  or 
equivocal  reply,  his  temper  would  as  certainly  boil  over,  and 
an  insulting  letter  would  at  once  be  addressed  to  Sir  Staf- 
ford. Were  she  to  make  the  request  and  fail,  he  would 
order  her  home,  and  under  what  circumstances  should  she 
leave  the  house  of  her  benefactors !  And  yet  all  this  was 
better  than  success. 

In  such  harassing  reflections  warring  and  jarring  in  her 
mind,  the  long  hours  of  the  night  were  passed.  She  wept, 
too :  the  bitterest  tears  are  those  that  are  wrung  from  shame 
and  sorrow  mingled.  Many  a  generous  resolve,  many  a 
thought  of  self-devotion  and  sacrifice  rose  to  her  mind ;  at 
moments  she  would  liave  submitted  herself  to  any  wound  to 
self-esteem  to  have  obtained  her  father's  kind  word,  and  at 
others  all  the  indignity  of  a  false  position  overwhelmed  her, 
and  she  cried  as  if  her  very  heart  were  bursting. 

Wearied  and  fevered,  she  arose  and  went  into  the  garden. 
It  was  one  of  the  brilliant  mornings  which — for  a  week  or 
ten  days  —  in  Italy  represent  the  whole  season  of  spring. 
Although  still  early,  the  sun  was  hot,  and  the  flowers  and 
shrubs,  refreshed  by  the  heavv-  dew,  were  bursting  out  into 
renewed  luxuriance  in  the  warm  glow.  The  fountains 
sparkled,  and  the  birds  were  singing,  and  all  seemed  ani- 
mated by  that  joyous  spirit  which  seems  the  very  breath  of 
early  morning,  —  all  save  poor  Kate,  who,  with  bent-down 
head  and  slow  step,  loitered  alon^  the  walks,  lost  in  her 
gloomiest  thoughts. 


404  THE   DALTONS. 

To  return  home  again  was  the  only  issue  she  could  see 
to  her  difficulties,  to  share  the  humble  fortunes  of  her 
father  and  sister,  away  from  a  world  in  which  she  had  no 
pretension  to  live !  And  this,  too,  just  when  that  same 
world  had  cast  its  fascinations  round  her,  —  just  when  its 
blandishments  had  gained  possession  of  her  heart,  and 
made  her  feel  that  all  without  its  pale  was  ignoble  and 
unworthy.  No  other  course  seemed,  however,  to  oflfer 
itself,  and  she  had  just  determined  on  its  adoption,  when 
the  short,  quick  step  of  some  one  following  her  made  her 
turn  her  head.  As  she  did  so,  her  name  was  pronounced, 
and  Mr.  Albert  Jekyl,  with  his  hat  courteously  removed, 
advanced  towards  her. 

"  I  see  with  what  care  Miss  Dalton  protects  the  roses  of 
her  cheeks,"  said  he,  smiling;  "  and  yet  how  few  there  are 
that  know  this  simple  secret." 

"You  give  me  a  credit  I  have  no  claim  to,  Mr.  Jekj^l. 
I  have  almost  forgotten  the  sight  of  a  rising  sun,  but  this 
morning  I  did  not  feel  quite  well  —  a  headache  —  a  sleepless 
night—" 

"Perhaps  caused  by  anxiety,"  interposed  he,  quietly. 
"I  wish  I  had  discovered  your  loss  in  time,  but  I  onlj- 
detected  that  it  must  be  yours  when  I  reached  home." 

"  I  don't  comprehend  you,"  said  she,  with  some  hesita- 
tion. 

"  Is  not  this  yours,  Miss  Dalton?"  said  he,  producing 
the  bill,  which  had  fallen  unseen  from  her  father's  letter. 
"  I  found  it  on  the  floor  of  the  small  boudoir,  and  not 
paj'ing  much  attention  to  it  at  the  time,  did  not  perceive 
the  signature,  which  would  at  once  have  betrayed  the 
ownership." 

"  It  must  have  dropped  from  a  letter  I  was  reading," 
said  Kate,  whose  cheek  was  now  scarlet,  for  she  knew 
Jekyl  well  enough  to  be  certain  that  her  whole  secret  was 
by  that  time  in  his  hands.  Slighter  materials  than  this 
would  have  sufficed  for  his  intelligence  to  construct  a  theory 
upon.  Nothing  in  his  manner,  however,  evinced  this  knowl- 
edge, for  he  handed  her  the  paper  with  an  air  of  most 
impassive  quietude ;  while,  as  if  to  turn  her  thoughts  from 
any  unpleasantness  of  the  incident,  he  said,  — 


JEKYL'S  COUNSELS.  405 

"You  haven't  yet  heard,  I  suppose,  of  Lady  Hester's 
sudden  resolve  to  quit  Florence?" 

"  Leave  Florence!  and  for  where?"  asked  she,  hurriedly. 

"  For  Midchekoff's  villa  at  Como.  We  discussed  it  all 
last  night  after  you  left,  and  in  twenty-four  hours  we  are 
to  be  on  the  road." 

"  What  is  the  reason  of  this  hurried  departure?  " 

' '  The  Ricketts  invasion  gives  the  pretext ;  but  of  course 
you  know  better  than  I  do  what  a  share  the  novelty  of  the 
scheme  lends  to  its  attractions." 

"  And  we  are  to  leave  this  to-morrow? "  said  Kate,  rather 
to  herself  than  for  her  companion. 

Jekyl  marked  well  the  tone  and  the  expression  of  the 
speaker,  but  said  not  a  word. 

Kate  stood  for  a  few  seconds  lost  in  thought.  Her 
difficulties  were  thickening  around  her,  and  not  a  gleam 
of  light  shone  through  the  gloomy  future  before  her.  At 
last,  as  it  were  overpowered  by  the  torturing  anxieties  of 
her  situation,  she  covered  her  face  with  her  hands  to  hide 
the  tears  that  would  gush  forth  in  spite  of  her. 

"Miss  Dalton  will  forgive  me,"  said  Jekyl,  speaking  in 
a  low  and  most  respectful  voice,  "  if  I  step  for  once  from 
the  humble  path  I  have  tracked  for  myself  in  life,  and  offer 
my  poor  services  as  her  adviser." 

Nothing  could  be  more  deferential  than  the  speech,  or 
the  way  in  which  it  was  uttered,  and  yet  Kate  heard  it 
with  a  sense  of  pain.  She  felt  that  her  personal  indepen- 
dence was  already  in  peril,  and  that  the  meek  and  bashful 
Mr.  Jekyl  had  gained  a  mastery  over  her.  He  saw  all  this, 
he  read  each  struggle  of  her  mind,  and,  were  retreat  prac- 
ticable, he  would  have  retreated ;  but,  the  step  once  taken, 
the  only  course  was  "forwards." 

"  Miss  Dalton  may  reject  my  counsels,  but  she  will  not 
despise  the  devotion  in  which  they  are  pi  offered.  A  mere 
accident"  —  here  he  glanced  at  the  paper  which  she  still 
held  in  her  fingers  —  "  a  mere  accident  has  shown  me  that 
you  have  a  difficulty;  one  for  which  neither  your  habits 
nor  knowledge  of  life  can  suggest  the  solution."  He  paused, 
and  a  very  slight  nod  from  Kate  emboldened  him  to  pro- 
ceed.    "  Were  it  not  so,  Miss  Dalton  —  were  the  case  one 


406  "  THE  DALTONS. 

for  which  your  own  exquisite  tact  could  suffice,  I  never 
would  have  ventured  on  the  liberty.  I,  who  have  watched 
you  with  wondering  admiration,  directing  and  guiding  your 
course  amid  shoals  and  reefs  and  quicksands,  where  the 
most  skilful  might  have  found  shipwreck,  it  would  have 
been  hardihood  indeed  for  me  to  have  offered  my  pilotage. 
But  here,  if  I  err  not  greatly,  here  is  a  new  and  unknown 
sea,  and  here  I  may  be  of  service  to  you." 

"Is  it  so  plain,  then,  what  all  this  means?"  said  Kate, 
holding  out  the  bill  towards  Jekyl. 

*'  Alas !  Miss  Dal  ton,"  said  he,  with  a  faint  smile,  "  these 
are  no  enigmas  to  us  who  mix  in  all  the  worries  and  cares 
of  life." 

"Then  how  do  you  read  the  riddle?"  said  she,  almost 
laughing  at  the  easy  flippancy  of  his  tone. 

"  Mr.  Dalton  being  an  Irish  gentleman  of  a  kind  disposi- 
tion and  facile  temper,  suffers  his  tenantry  to  run  most 
grievously  into  arrear.  They  won't  pa}',  and  he  won't  make 
them ;  his  own  creditors  having  no  sympathy  with  such  pro- 
ceedings, become  pressing  and  importunate.  Mr.  Dalton 
grows  angry,  and  they  grow  irritable ;  he  makes  his  agent 
write  to  them^  they  '  instruct'  their  attorney  to  write  to  him. 
Mr.  D.  is  puzzled,  and  were  it  not  that  —  But,  may  I  go 
on?" 

"  Of  course ;  proceed,"  said  she,  smiling. 

"  You'll  not  be  offended,  though?  "  said  he,  "because,  if 
I  have  not  the  privilege  of  being  frank,  I  shall  be  worthless 
to  you." 

"  There  is  no  serious  offence  without  intention." 

"Very  true;  but  I  do  not  wish  there  should  be  even  a 
trivial  transgression." 

"  I  'm  not  afraid.     Go  on,"  said  she,  nodding  her  head. 

"Where  was  I,  then?  Oh!  I  remember.  I  said  that 
Mr.  Dalton,  seeing  difficulties  thickening  and  troubles 
gathering,  suddenly  bethinks  him  that  he  has  a  daughter, 
a  young  lady  of  such  attractions  that,  in  a  society  where 
wealth  and  splendor  and  rank  hold  highest  place,  her  beauty 
has  already  established  a  dominion  which  nothing,  save  her 
gentleness,  prevents  being  a  despotism." 

"Mr.  Jekyl  mistakes  the  part  of  a  friend  when  he  be- 
comes flatterer." 


JEKYL'S  COUNSELS.  407 

"  There  is  no  flattery  in  a  plain  unadorned  truth,"  said  he, 
,  hastily. 

"  And  were  it  all  as  you  say,"  rejoined  she,  speaking  with 
a  heightened  color  and  a  flashing  eye,  "  how  could  such  cir- 
cumstances be  linked  with  those  you  spoke  of?" 

"  Easily  enough,  if  I  did  but  dare  to  tell  it,"  was  his  reply. 

"  It  is  too  late  for  reserve;  go  on  freely,"  said  she,  with 
a  faint  sigh. 

Jekyl  resumed,  — 

"Mr.  Dalton  knows  —  there  are  thousands  could  have 
told  him  so  —  that  his  daughter  may  be  a  princess  to-mor- 
row if  she  wishes  it.  She  has  but  to  choose  her  rank  and 
her  nationality,  and  there  is  not  a  land  in  Europe  in  whose 
peerage  she  may  not  inscribe  her  name.  It  is  too  late  for 
reserve,"  said  he,  quickly,  ''  and  consequently  too  late  for 
resentment.  You  must  not  be  angry  with  me  now ;  I  am 
but  speaking  in  your  presence  what  all  the  world  says  behind 
your  back.  Hearing  this,  and  believing  it,  as  all  believe  it, 
what  is  there  more  natural  than  that  he  should  address  him- 
self to  her  at  whose  disposal  lie  all  that  wealth  can  compass? 
The  sun  bestows  many  a  gleam  of  warmth  and  brightness 
before  he  reaches  the  zenith.  Do  not  mistake  me.  This 
request  was  scarcely  fair ;  it  was  ill-advised.  Your  freedom 
should  never  have  been  jeopardized  for  such  a  mere  trifle. 
Had  your  father  but  seen  with  his  own  eyes  your  position 
here,  he  would  never  have  done  this ;  but,  being  done,  there 
is  no  harm  in  it." 

"But  what  am  I  to  do?"  said  Kate,  trembling  with 
embarrassment  and  vexation  together. 

"  Send  the  money,  of  course,"  said  he,  coolly. 

"But  how  —  from  what  source?" 

"  Your  own  benevolence,  —  none  other,"  said  he,  as  calmly. 
"  There  is  no  question  of  a  favor,  no  stooping  to  an  obliga- 
tion necessary.  You  will  simply  give  your  promise  to  repay 
it  at  some  future  day,  not  spedfying  when ;  and  I  will  find 
a  banker  but  too  happy  to  treat  with  you." 

"But  what  prospect  have  I  of  such  ability  to  pay? 
what  resources  can  I  reckon  upon?" 

"  You  will  be  angry  if  I  repeat  myself,"  said  Jekyl,  with 
deep  humility. 


408  THE  DALTONS. 

"  I  am  already  angry  with  myself   that   I   should   have 
listened    to    your    proposal    so    indulgently ;    my    troubles* 
must,    indeed,    have    affected    me    deeply   when   I    so    far 
forgot  myself." 

Jekyl  dropped  his  head  forward  on  his  breast,  and  looked 
a  picture  of  sorrow ;  after  a  while  he  said,  — 

"  Sir  Stafford  Onslow  would,  I  well  know,  but  be  honored 
by  your  asking  him  the  slight  favor ;  but  I  could  not  coun- 
sel you  to  do  so.  Your  feelings  would  have  to  pay  too  severe 
a  sacrifice,  and  hence  1  advise  making  it  a  mere  business 
matter ;  depositing  some  ornament  —  a  necklace  you  were 
tired  of,  a  bracelet,  anything  —  in  fact,  a  nothing  —  and 
thus  there  is  neither  a  difficulty  nor  a  disclosure." 

"I  have  scarcely  anything,"  said  Kate;  "and  what  I 
have,   have  been  all  presents  from  Lady  Hester." 

"  Morlache  would  be  quite  content  with  your  word,"  said 
Jekyl,  blandly. 

"  And  if  I  should  be  unable  to  acquit  the  debt,  will  these 
few  things  I  possess  be  sufficient  to  do  it?" 

"  I  should  say  double  the  amount,  as  a  mere  guess." 

"Can  1  —  dare  I  take  your  counsel?"  cried  she,  in  an 
accent  of  intense  anxiety. 

"  Can  you  reject  it,  when  refusal  will  be  so  bitter?  " 

Kate  gave  a  slight  shudder,  as  though  that  pang  was 
greater  than  all  the  rest. 

"There  is  fortunately  no  difficulty  in  the  matter  what- 
ever," said  Jekyl,  speaking  rapidly.  "  You  will,  of  course, 
have  many  things  to  purchase  before  j^ou  leave  this.  Well ; 
take  the  carriage  and  your  maid,  and  drive  to  the  Ponte 
Vecchio.  The  last  shop  on  the  right-hand  side  of  the 
bridge  is  '  Morlache's.'  It  is  unpromising  enough  outside, 
but  there  is  wealth  within  to  subsidize  a  kingdom.  I  will 
be  in  waiting  to  receive  you,  and  in  a  few  minutes  the 
whole  will  be  concluded ;  and  if  you  have  your  letter  ready, 
you  can  enclose  the  sum,  and  post  it  at  once." 

If  there  were  many  things  in  this  arrangement  which 
shocked  Kate,  and  revolted  against  her  sense  of  delicacy 
and  propriety,  there  was  one  counterpoise  more  than 
enough  to  outweigh  them  all :  she  should  be  enabled  to 
serve  her  father,  —  she,  who  alone  of   all  his  children  had . 


JEKYL'S  COUNSELS.  409 

never  contributed,  save  by  affection,  to  his  comfort,  should 
now  materially  assist  him.  She  knew  too  well  the  suffer- 
ings and  anxieties  his  straitened  fortune  cost  him,  —  she 
witnessed  but  too  often  the  half-desperation  in  which  he 
would  pass  days,  borne  down  and  almost  broken-hearted ! 
and  she  had  witnessed  that  outbreak  of  joy  he  would 
indulge  in  when  an  unexpected  help  had  suddenly  lifted 
him  from  the  depth  of  his  poverty.  To  be  the  messenger 
of  such  good  tidings.  —  to  be  associated  in  his  mind  with 
this  assistance,  — to  win  his  fervent  "  God  bless  you!  "  she 
would  have  put  life  itself  in  peril ;  and  when  Jekyl  placed 
so  palpably  before  her  the  promptitude  with  which  the 
act  could  be  accomplished,  all  hesitation  ceased,  and  she 
promised  to  be  punctual  at  the  appointed  place  by  three 
o'clock  that  same  afternoon. 

"  It  is  too  early  to  expect  to  see  Lady  Hester,"  said 
Jekyl;  "and  indeed,  my  real  business  here  this  morning 
was  with  yourself,  so  that  now  I  shall  drive  out  to  Mid- 
chekoff's  and  make  all  the  arrangements  about  the  villa. 
Till  three,  then,  good-bye !  " 

"  Good-bye,"  said  Kate,  for  the  first  time  disposed  to  feel 
warmly  to  the  little  man,  and  half  reproach  herself  with 
some  of  the  prejudices  she  used  to  entertain  regarding 
him. 

Jekyl  now  took  his  way  to  the  stables,  and  ordering  a 
brougham  to  be  got  ready  for  him,  sauntered  into  the 
house,  and  took  his  coffee  while  he  waited. 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

RACCA    MORLACHE. 

There  is  something  of  mediaeval  look  and  air  about  the 
Ponte  Vecehio  iu  Florence,  which  gives  it  a  peculiar  interest 
to  the  traveller.  The  quaint  little  low  shops  on  either  side, 
all  glittering  with  gold  and  gems ;  the  gorgeous  tiaras  of 
diamonds ;  the  richly  enamelled  cups  and  vases  aside  of  the 
grotesque  ornaments  of  peasant  costume ;  the  cumbrous 
ear-rings  of  stamped  gold ;  the  old-fashioned  clasps  and 
buckles  of  massive  make ;  the  chains  fashioned  after  long- 
forgotten  models ;  the  strings  of  Oriental  pearls,  costly  and 
rare  enough  for  queens  to  wear,  —  are  all  thrown  about  iu  a 
rich  profusion,  curiously  in  contrast  to  the  humble  sheds  — 
for  they  are  little  more  —  that  hold  them. 

The  incessant  roll  of  equipages;  the  crowd  and  move- 
ment of  a  great  city ;  the  lingering  peasant,  gazing  with 
rapturous  eyes  at  the  glittering  wares ;  the  dark  Israelitish 
face  that  peers  from  within ;  the  ever-flowing  tide  of  popu- 
lation of  every  rank  and  age  and  country,  giving  a  bustle 
and  animation  to  the  scene,  so  beautifully  relieved  by  the 
view  that  opens  on  the  centre  of  the  bridge,  and  where,  in  a 
vacant  space,  the  Arno  is  seen  wending  peacefully  along, 
and  scattering  its  circling  eddies  beneath  the  graceful  arches 
of  the  "  Santa  Trinita,"  —  that  little  glimpse  of  hill  and  vine- 
yard and  river,  the  cypress-clad  heights  of  San  Miniato,  and 
the  distant  mountain  of  Vallombrosa,  more  beautiful  far 
than  all  the  gold  Pactolus  ever  rolled,  or  all  the  gems  that 
ever  glittered  on  crown  or  coronet. 

There  was  one  stall  at  the  end  of  the  bridge  so  humble- 
looking  and  so  scantily  provided  that  no  stranger  was  seen 
to  linger  beside  it.  A  few  coral  ornaments  for  peasant 
wear,  some  stamped   medals  for  pious  use,  and  some  of' 


RACCA  MORLACHE.  411 

those  little  silver  tokens  hung  up  by  some  devout  hands  as 
votive  offerings  at  a  holy  shrine,  were  all  that  appeared; 
while,  as  if  to  confirm  tlie  impression  of  the  scanty  traflic 
that  went  on,  the  massive  door  was  barred  and  bolted  like 
the  portal  of  a  prison.  An  almost  erased  inscription,  unre- 
newed for  nigh  half  a  century,  told  that  this  was  the  shop  of 
"  Racca  Morlache." 

There  may  have  been  much  of  exaggeration  in  the  stories 
that  went  of  the  Jew's  enormous  wealth ;  doubtless  many  of 
the  accounts  were  purely  fabulous ;  but  one  fact  is  certain, 
that  from  that  lowly  roof  went  forth  sums  sufficient  to  main- 
tain the  credit  of  many  a  tottering  state,  or  support  the  cost 
of  warlike  struggles  to  replace  a  dynasty.  To  him  came 
the  heads  of  despotic  governments,  the  leaders  of  rebellious 
democracy,  the  Russian  and  the  Circassian,  the  Carlist 
and  the  Cristino.  To  the  proud  champion  of  divine  right, 
or  the  fearless  promulgator  of  equality,  —  to  all  he  was  acces- 
sible. Solvency  and  his  profit  were  requirements  he  could 
not  dispense  with;  but,  for  the  rest,  in  what  channel  of 
future  good  and  evil  his  wealth  was  to  flow,  —  whether  to 
maintain  a  throne  or  sap  its  foundation,  to  uphold  a  faith  or 
to  desecrate  its  altars,  to  liberate  a  people  or  to  bind  their  fet- 
ters more  closely,  —  were  cares  that  sat  lightly  on  his  heart. 

He  might,  with  his  vast  means,  have  supported  a  style  like 
royalty  itself.  There  was  no  splendor  nor  magnificence 
he  need  have  denied  himself ;  nor,  as  the  world  goes,  any 
society  from  which  he  should  be  debarred,  —  gold  is  the 
picklock  to  the  doors  of  palaces  as  of  prisons ;  but  he  pre- 
ferred this  small  and  miserable  habitation,  which  for  above 
two  centuries  had  never  borne  any  other  name  than  the 
"  Casa  Morlache." 

Various  reasons  were  given  out  for  a  choice  so  singular ; 
among  others,  it  was  said  that  the  Grand-Duke  was  accus- 
tomed to  visit  the  Jew  by  means  of  a  secret  passage  from 
the  "Pitti;  "  while  some  alleged  tliat  the  secret  frequenters 
of  Morlaclie's  abode  all  came  by  water,  and  that  in  the  dark 
night  many  a  boat  skimmed  the  Arno,  and  directed  its 
course  to  the  last  arch  of  the  Ponte  Vecchio.  "With  these 
rumors  we  have  no  concern,  nor  with  Morlache  himself  have 
we  more  than  a  passing  business. 


412  THE  DALTONS. 

When  Kate  Dalton  had  driven  up  to  the  door,  she  had  all 
but  determined  to  abandon  her  intention.  The  arguments 
which  in  the  morning  had  taken  her  by  surprise  seemed 
now  weak  and  futile,  and  she  was  shocked  with  herself 
for  even  the  momentary  yielding  to  Jekyl's  counsels.  Her 
only  doubt  was  whether  to  drive  on  without  further  halt,  or 
leave  some  short  message,  to  the  effect  that  she  had  called 
but  could  not  delay  there.  This  seemed  the  better  and  more 
courteous  proceeding;  and  while  she  was  yet  speaking  to 
the  dark-eyed,  hook-nosed  boy  who  appeared  at  the  door, 
Jekyl  came  up. 

"Be  quick,  Miss  Dalton!  Don't  lose  an  instant,"  said 
he.  "Morlache  is  going  to  the  palace,  and  we  shall  miss 
him." 

"But  I  have  changed  my  mind.  I  have  resolved  not  to 
accept  this  assistance.  It  is  better  —  far  better  that  I 
should  not." 

"It  is  too  late  to  think  of  that  now,"  said  he,  interrupt- 
ing, and  speaking  with  some  slight  degree  of  irritation. 

"How  too  late?     What  do  you  mean?  " 

"That  I  have  already  told  Morlache  the  whole  story,  and 
obtained  his  promise  for  the  loan." 

"Oh,  sir!  why  have  you  done  this?  "  cried  she,  in  a  voice 
of  anguish. 

"I  had  your  free  permission  for  it.  Miss  Dalton.  When 
we  parted  this  morning,  the  matter  was  fully  agreed  on 
between  us;  but  still,  if  you  desire  to  retract,  your  secret  is 
in  safe  keeping.     Morlache  never  betrays  a  confidence." 

"  And  he  has  heard  my  name ! "  cried  she,  in  a  broken, 
sobbing  tene. 

"Not  for  the  first  time,  be  assured.  Even  Croesus 
looked  up  from  his  ingots  to  ask  if  it  were  '  la  belle  Dal- 
ton; '  and  when  I  said  '  Yes,'  '  That's  enough,'  replied  he; 
'  would  that  all  my  moneys  had  so  safe  investment! '  But 
stay;  there  is  Purvis  yonder.  He  is  pretending  to  examine 
an  eye-glass  in  that  shop  opposite,  but  I  see  well  that  he  is 
there  only  en  vedette." 

"What  shall  I  do?"  exclaimed  the  poor  girl,  now  torn  by 
impulses  and  emotions  the  most  opposite. 

"One  thing  you  must  do  at  once,"  said  Jekyl;  "get  out 


RACCA  MORLACHE.  413 

of  the  carriage  and  visit  two  or  three  of  the  shops,  as  if  in 
quest  of  some  article  of  jewelry.  His  anxiety  to  learn 
the  precise  object  of  your  search  will  soon  draw  him  from 
his  '  lair.'  " 

The  decision  of  this  counsel,  almost  like  a  command,  so 
far  imposed  upon  Kate  that  she  at  once  descended,  and 
took  Jekyl's  arm  along  the  bridge.  They  had  not  gone 
many  yards  when  the  short,  little,  shuffling  step  of  Purvis 
was  heard  behind  them.  Lingering  to  gaze  at  some  of  the 
splendid  objects  exposed  for  sale,  they  at  last  reached  a 
very  splendid  stall,  where  diamonds,  pearls,  and  rubies  lay 
in  heaps  of  gorgeous  profusion.  And  now  Purvis  had 
stationed  himself  exactly  behind  them,  with  his  head 
most  artistically  adjusted  to  hear  everything  that  passed 
between  them. 

Jekyl  seemed  to  feel  his  presence  as  if  by  an  instinct,  and 
without  even  turning  his  eye  from  the  glass  case,  said,  in 
a  voice  of  some  disparagement,  — 

"All  modern  settings! — very  lustrous  —  very  brilliant, 
but  not  at  all  what  we  are  looking    for." 

Kate  made  no  reply;  for,  while  she  had  scruples  about 
abetting  a  mere  scheme,  she  was  not  the  less  eager  to  be 
free  of  the  presence  of  the  "Great  Inquisitor." 
-  "That,  perhaps,"  said  Jekyl,  pointing  to  a  magnificent 
cross  of  brilliants,  "would  not  go  ill  with  the  necklace, 
although  the  stones  are  smaller.  Say  something,  —  any- 
thing," added  he,  in  a  lower  tone;  "the  spell  is  working." 

"That  is  very  handsome,"  said  Kate,  pointing  at  a  ven- 
ture to  an  object  before  her. 

"So  it  is,"  said  Jekyl,  quickly.  "Let  us  see  what  value 
they  place  upon  it.  Oh,  here  is  Mr.  PuiTis ;  how  fortunate ! 
Perhaps  in  all  Florence  there  is  not  one  so  conversant  with 
all  that  concerns  taste  and  elegance,  and,  as  an  old  resident, 
happily  exempt  from  all  the  arts  and  wiles  played  off  upon 
our  countrymen." 

"How  d'  ye  do  —  d'ye  do?"  cried  Purvis,  shaking  hands 
with  both.  "You  heard  of  the  bl-bl-blunder  I  made  last 
night  about  the  Ar-Archduke?  " 

"Not  a  word  of  it,"  replied  Jekyl. 

"I  told   him  he  was   a-a-a  fool,"  cried   Purvis,    with   a 


414  THE  DALTONS. 

scream   and  a  cackle   that  very   constantly  followed  any 
confession  of  an  impertinence. 

"Meno  male!"  exclaimed  Jekyl.  "Even  princes  ought 
to  hear  truth  sometimes;  but  you  can  help  us  here.  Mr. 
Purvis,  do  you  see  that  chatelaine  yonder,  with  a  large 
emerald  pendant;  could  you  ascertain  the  price  of  it  for 
Miss  Dalton?  They'll  not  attempt  to  be  extortionate 
upon  ?/o«,  which  they  would,  assuredly,  if  she  entered  the 
shop." 

"To  be  sure;  I'll  do  it  with  pl-pleasure.  Who  is  it 
for?" 

"That 's  a  secret,  Mr.  Purvis;  but  you  shall  hear  it  after- 
wards. " 

"I  guess  al-ready,"  said  Scroope,  with  a  cunning  leer. 
"You  're  going  to  be  m-m-m-married,  ain't  you?  " 

"Mr.  Purvis,  Mr.  Purvis,  I  must  call  you  to  order,"  said 
Jekyl,  who  saw  that  very  little  more  would  make  the  scene 
unendurable  to  Kate. 

"I  hope  it 's  not  an  It-It-Italian  fellow;  for  they  're  all  as 
poor  as  Laza-Laza-Laza  —  " 

"Yes,  yes,  of  course;  we  know  that.  Your  discretion 
is  invaluable,"  said  Jekyl;  "but  pray  step  in,  and  ask  this 
question  for  us." 

"I'll  tell  who'll  do  better,"  said  Purvis,  who,  once  full 
of  a  theme,  never  paid  any  attention  to  what  was  said  by 
others.  "Midche-Midche-Midche-k-k-off;  he  owns  half 
of  —  " 

"Never  mind  what  he  owns,  but  remember  that  Miss 
Dalton  is  waiting  all  this  time,"  said  Jekyl,  who  very  rarely 
so  far  lost  command  of  his  temper;  and  at  last  Purvis 
yielded,  and  entered  the  shop. 

"Come  now,"  said  Jekyl  to  his  companion;  "it  will  take 
him  full  five  minutes  to  say  '  chatelaine,'  and  before  that 
we  shall  be  safely  housed."  And  with  these  words  he 
hurried  her  along,  laughing,  in  spite  of  all  her  anxieties, 
at  the  absurdity  of  the  adventure.  "He  '11  see  the  carriage 
when  he  comes  out,"  added  he,  "and  so  I  '11  tell  the  coach- 
man to  drive  slowly  on  towards  the  Pitti."  And  thus, 
without  asking  her  consent,  he  assumed  the  full  goidance- 
at  once;  and,  ere  she  well  knew  how  or  why,  she   found 


RACCA  MORLACHE.  415 

herself  within  the  dark  and  dusty  precincts  of  Morlache's 
shop. 

Jekyl  never  gave  Kate  much  time  for  hesitation,  but 
hurried  her  along  through  a  narrow  passage,  from  which  a 
winding  flight  of  stone  steps  led  downwards  to  a  consider- 
able distance,  and  at  last  opened  upon  a  neat  little  chamber 
on  the  level  of  the  Arno,  the  window  opening  on  the  stream, 
and  only  separated  from  it  by  a  little  terrace,  covered  with 
geraniums  in  full  flower.  There  was  a  strange  undulating 
motion  that  seemed  communicated  from  the  stream  to  the 
apartment,  which  Jekyl  at  once  explained  to  his  companion 
as  a  contrivance  for  elevating  and  depressing  the  chamber 
with  the  changes  in  the  current  of  the  river;  otherwise  the 
room  must  have  been  under  water  for  a  considerable  portion 
of  the  year.  While  he  descanted  on  the  ingenuity  of  the 
mechanism,  and  pointed  attention  to  the  portraits  along  the 
walls,  —  the  Kings  and  Kaisers  with  whom  Morlache  had 
held  moneyed  relations,  —  the  minutes  slipped  on,  and 
Jekyl' s  powers  as  a  talker  were  called  upon  to  speak  against 
time,  the-'^gety  nervousness  of  his  manner,  and  the  fre- 
quent glances  he  bestowed  at  the  timepiece,  showing  how 
impatiently  he  longed  for  the  Jew's  arrival.  To  all  Kate's 
scruples  he  opposed  some  plausible  pretext,  assuring  her 
that,  if  she  desired  it,  no  mention  should  be  made  of  the 
loan ;  that  the  visit  might  be  as  one  of  mere  curiosity,  to 
see  some  of  those  wonderful  gems  which  had  once  graced 
the  crowns  of  royalty;  and  that,  in  any  case,  the  brief 
delay  would  disembarrass  them  on  the  score  of  Purvis, 
whose  spirit  of  inquiry  would  have  called  him  off  in  some 
other  direction.  At  last,  when  now  upwards  of  half  an 
hour  had  elapsed,  and  no  sound  nor  sight  bore  token  of  the 
Jew's  coming,  Jekyl  resolved  to  go  in  search  of  him;  and 
requesting  Kate  to  wait  patiently  for  a  few  minutes,  he 
left  the  room. 

At  first,  when  she  found  herself  alone,  every  noise 
startled  and  terrified  her;  the  minutes,  as  she  watched  the 
clock,  seemed  drawn  out  to  hours.  She  listened  with  an 
aching  anxiety  for  Jekyl's  return,  while,  with  a  sorrowing 
heart,  she  reproached  herself  for  ever  having  come  there. 
To  this  state  of  almost  feverish  excitement  succeeded   a 


416  THE   DALTONS. 

low  and  melancholy  depression,  in  which  the  time  passed 
without  her  consciousness;  the  half-dulled  sounds  of  the 
city,  the  monotonous  plash  of  the  sti'eam  as  it  flowed  past, 
the  distant  cries  of  the  boatmen  as  they  guided  their  swift 
barks  down  the  strong  current,  aiding  and  increasing  a 
feeling  that  was  almost  lethargic.  Already  the  sun  had 
sunk  below  the  hills,  and  the  tall  palaces  were  throw- 
ing their  giant  shadows  across  the  river,  the  presage  of 
approaching  night,  and  still  she  sat  there  all  alone.  Jekyl 
had  never  returned,  nor  had  any  one  descended  the  stairs 
since  his  departure.  Twice  had  she  shaken  off  the  dreamy 
stupor  that  was  over  her,  and  tried  to  find  the  door  of  the 
chamber,  but,  concealed  in  the  wainscoting,  it  defied  her 
efforts;  and  now,  worn  out  with  anxiety  and  disappointed, 
she  sat  down  beside  the  window,  gazing  listlessly  at  the 
water,  and  wondering  when  and  how  her  captivity  was  to 
end. 

The  lamps  were  now  being  lighted  on  the  quays,  and  long 
columns  of  light  streaked  the  dark  river.  Across  these  a 
black  object  was  seen  to  glide,  and  as  it  passed,  Kate  could 
perceive  it  was  a  boat  that  advanced  slowly  against  the  cur- 
rent, and  headed  up  the  stream.  As  she  watched,  it  came 
nearer  and  nearer;  and  now  she  could  hear  distinctly  the 
sound  of  voices  talking  in  French.  What,  however,  was 
her  surprise  when,  instead  of  making  for  the  centre  arches 
of  the  bridge,  the  boat  was  vigorously  impelled  across  the 
river,  and  its  course  directed  towards  the  very  place  where 
she  sat? 

However  painful  her  situation  before,  now  it  became 
downright  agony.  It  was  clear  there  were  persons  coming; 
in  another  moment  she  would  be  discovered,  unable  to 
explain  by  what  course  of  events  she  had  come  there,  and 
thus  exposed  to  every  surmise  and  suspicion  that  chance 
or  calumny  might  originate.  In  that  brief  but  terrible 
moment  what  self-accusings,  what  reproaches  of  Jekyl 
crossed  her  mind;  and  yet  all  these  were  as  nothing  to  the 
misery  which  coming  events  seemed  full  of.  For  a  second 
or  two  she  stood  irresolute,  and  then  with  something  like 
an  instinct  of  escape,  she  stepped  out  upon  the  little  terrace 
that  supported  the  flowers,  and,  trembling  with  fear,  took 


RACCA  MORLACHE.  417 

her  stand  beneath  the  shadow  of  one  of  the  great  buttresses 
of  the  bridge.  The  frail  and  half-rotten  timbers  creaked 
and  bent  beneath  her  weight,  and  close  under  her  feet  rolled 
along  the  dark  river,  with  a  low  and  sullen  sound  like  moan- 
ing. Meanwhile  the  boat  came  nearer,  and  slowly  gliding 
along,  was  at  last  brought  up  at  the  window.  Two  figures 
passed  into  the  chamber,  and  the  boatmen,  as  if  performing 
a  long-accustomed  task,  rowed  out  a  few  lengths  into  the 
stream  to  wait. 

From  the  window,  which  still  remained  open,  a  stream  of 
light  now  issued,  and  Kate's  quick  hearing  could  detect  the 
rustling  sound  of  papers  on  the  table. 

"There  they  are,"  said  a  voice,  the  first  accents  of  which 
she  knew  to  belong  to  the  Abbe  D'Esmonde.  "There  they 
are,  Signor  Morlache.  We  have  no  concealments  nor 
reserve  with  you.  Examine  them  for  yourself.  You 
will  find  reports  from  nearly  every  part  of  the  kingdom; 
some  more,  some  less  favorable  in  their  bearings,  but  all 
agreeing  in  the  main  fact,  that  the  cause  is  a  great  one, 
and  the  success  all  but  certain." 

"I  have  told  you  before,"  said  the  Jew,  speaking  in  a 
thick,  guttural  utterance,  "that  my  sympathies  never  lead 
me  into  expense.  Every  solvent  cause  is  good,  every  bank- 
rupt one  the  reverse,  in  my  estimation." 

"Even  upon  that  ground  I  am  ready  to  meet  you.  The 
committee  —  " 

"Ay,  who  are  the  committee?"  interrupted  the  Jew, 
hastily. 

"The  committee  contains  some  of  the  first  Catholic  names 
of  Ireland,  men  of  landed  fortune  and  great  territorial  influ- 
ence, together  with  several  of  the  higher  clergy." 

"The  bishops?" 

"The  bishops,  almost  to  a  man,  are  with  us  in  heart;  but 
their  peculiar  position  requires  the  most  careful  and  deli- 
cate conduct.  No  turn  of  fortune  must  implicate  tliem^  or 
our  cause  is  lost  forever." 

"If  your  cause  be  all  you  say  it  is,  — if  the  nationality 
be  so  strong,  and  the  energies  so  powerful  as  you  describe, 
—  why  not  try  the  issue,  as  the  Italians  and  the  Hungarians 
are  about  to  do?  "  said  Morlache.    "  I  can  understand  a  loan 

VOL.  I.  —  27 


418  THE   DALTONS. 

for  a  defined  and  real  object,  —  the  purchase  of  military 
stores  and  equipment,  to  provide  arms  and  ammunition,  — 
and  I  can  understand  how  the  lender,  too,  could  calculate 
his  risk  of  profit  or  loss  on  the  issue  of  the  struggle;  but 
here  you  want  half  a  million  sterling,  and  for  what?  " 

"To  win  a  kingdom!"  cried  D'Esmonde,  enthusiasti- 
cally. "To  bring  back  to  the  fold  of  the  Church  the  long- 
lost  sheep ;  and  make  Ireland,  as  she  once  was,  the  centre 
of  holy  zeal  and  piety ! " 

"I  am  not  a  pope,  nor  a  cardinal,  —  not  even  a  monsig- 
nore,"  said  Morlache,  with  a  bitter  laugh.  "You  must  try 
other  arguments  with  me;  and  once  more  I  say,  why  not 
join  that  party  who  already  are  willing  to  risk  their  lives 
in  the  venture  ?  " 

"  Have  I  not  told  you  what  and  who  they  are  who  form 
this  party?"  said  D'Esmonde,  passionately.  "Read  those 
papers  before  you.  Study  the  secret  reports  sent  from 
nearly  every  parish  in  the  kingdom.  In  some  you  will 
find  the  sworn  depositions  of  men  on  their  death-beds,  — 
the  last  words  their  lips  have  uttered  on  earth, — all  con-^ 
currring  to  show  that  Ireland  has  no  hope  save  in  the 
Church.  The  men  who  now  stir  up  the  land  to  revolt  are 
not  devoid  of  courage  or  capacity.  They  are  bold,  and 
they  are  able,  but  they  are  infidel.  They  would  call  upon 
their  countrymen  in  the  name  of  past  associations,  —  the 
wrongs  of  bygone  centuries ;  they  would  move  the  heart  by 
appeals,  touching  enough.  Heaven  knows,  to  the  galling 
sores  of  serfdom,  but  they  will  not  light  one  fire  upon  the 
altar;  they  will  not  carry  the  only  banner  that  should  float 
in  the  van  of  an  Irish  army.  Their  bold  denouneings  may 
warn  some;  their  poetry  will,  perhaps,  move  others;  but 
their  prose  and  verse,  like  themselves,  will  be  forgotten  in 
a  few  years,  and,  save  a  few  grassy  mounds  in  a  village 
churchyard,  or  a  prisoner's  plaint  sent  over  the  sea  from 
a  land  of  banishment,  nothing  will  remain  of  Ireland's 
patriots." 

"England  is  too  powerful  for  such  assailants,"  said  the 
Jew. 

"Very  tme;  but  remember  that  the  stout  three-decker 
that  never  struck  to  an  enemy  has  crumbled  to  ruin  beneath 


RACCA  MORLACHE.  419 

the  dry  rot,"  said  D'Esmonde,  with  a  savage  energy  of 
mauner.  "Such  is  the  case  now.  All  is  rot  and  corrup- 
tion within  her;  pauperism  at  home,  rebellion  abroad. 
The  nobles,  more  tolerant  as  the  commonalty  grows  more 
ambitiou^;  resources  diminishing  as  taxation  increases; 
disaffection  everywhere,  in  the  towns  where  they  read,  in 
the  rural  districts  where  they  brood  over  their  poverty; 
and  lastly,  but  greatest  of  all,  schism  in  the  Church,  a 
mutiny  in  that  disorderly  mass  that  was  never  yet  disci- 
plined to  obedience.  Are  these  the  evidences  of  strength, 
or  are  they  sure  signs  of  coming  ruin?  Mark  me,"  said  he, 
hurriedly,  "I  do  not  mean  from  all  this  that  such  puny 
revolt  as  we  are  now  to  see  can  shake  powers  like  that  of 
England.  These  men  will  have  the  same  fate  as  Tone  and 
Emmet,  without  the  sympathy  that  followed  them.  They 
will  fail,  and  fail  egregiously;  but  it  is  exactly  upon  this 
failure  that  our  hopes  of  success  are  based.  Not  a  priest 
will  join  them.  On  the  contrary,  their  scheme  will  be 
denounced  from  our  altars;  our  flocks  warned  to  stand 
aloof  from  their  evil  influence.  Our  bishops  will  be  in 
close  communication  with  the  heads  of  the  Government; 
all  the  little  coquetries  of  confidence  and  frankness  will  be 
played  off;  and  our  loyalty, — that's  the  phrase, — our 
loyalty  stand  high  in  public  esteem.  The  very  jeers  and 
insults  of  our  enemies  will  give  fresh  lustre  to  our  bright 
example,  and  our  calm  and  dignified  demeanor  form  the 
contrast  to  that  rampant  intolerance  that  assails  us." 

"But  for  all  this  classic  dignity,"  said  Morlache,  sneer- 
ingly,  "you  need  no  money;  such  nobility  of  soul  is,  after 
all,  the  cheapest  of  luxuries." 

"You  are  mistaken, — mistaken  egregiously,"  broke  in 
D'Esmonde.  "It  is  precisely  at  that  moment  that  we  shall 
require  a  strong  friend  behind  us.  The  '  Press  '  is  all- 
powerful  in  England.  If  it  does  not  actually  guide,  it  is 
the  embodiment  of  public  opinion,  without  which  men  would 
never  clothe  their  sentiments  in  fitting  phrase,  or  invest 
them  with  those  short  and  pithy  apothegms  that  form  the 
watchwords  of  party.  Happily,  if  it  be  great,  it  is  venal ; 
and  although  the  price  be  a  princely  ransom,  the  bargain  is 
worth  the  money.     Fifty  or  a  hundred  thousand  pounds,  at 


420  THE  DALTONS. 

that  nick,  would  gain  our  cause.  We  shall  need  many^ 
advocates;  some,  in  assumed  self-gratulatiou  over  their 
own  prescience,  in  supporting  our  claims  in  time  past,  and 
reiterating  the  worn  assertion  of  our  attachment  to  the 
throne  and  the  constitution ;  others,  to  contrast  our  bearing 
with  the  obtrusive  loyalty  of  Orangeism ;  and  others,  again, 
going  further  than  either,  to  proclaim  that,  but  for  us,  Ire- 
land would  have  been  lost  to  England ;  and  had  not  our  alle- 
giance stood  in  the  breach,  the  cause  of  rebellion  would  have 
triumphed." 

"And  is  this  character  for  loyalty  worth  so  much 
money?"  said  the  Jew,  slowly. 

"Not  as  a  mere  empty  name,  —  not  as  a  vain  boast," 
replied  D'Esmonde,  quickly;  "but  if  the  tree  be  stunted, 
its  fruits  are  above  price.  Our  martyrdom  will  not  go 
unrewarded.  The  moment  of  peril  over,  the  season  of  con- 
cessions wil!  begin.  How  I  once  hated  the  word!  —  how  I 
used  to  despise  those  who  were  satisfied  with  these  crumbs 
from  the  table  of  the  rich  man,  not  knowing  that  the  time 
would  come  when  we  should  sit  at  the  board  ourselves. 
Concession !  —  the  vocabulary  has  no  one  word  I  'd  change 
for  it;  it  is  conquest,  dominion,  sovereignty,  all  together. 
By  concession,  we  may  be  all  we  strive  for,  but  never  could 
wrest  by  force.  Now,  my  good  Signer  Moilache,  these  slow 
and  sententious  English  are  a  most  impulsive  people,  and 
are  often  betrayed  into  the  strangest  excesses  of  forgive- 
ness and  forgetf ulness ;  insomuch  that  I  feel  assured  that 
nothing  will  be  refused  us,  if  we  but  play  our  game 
prudently." 

"And  what  is  the  game?  "  said  the  Jew,  with  impatience; 
"for  it  seems  to  me  that  you  are  not  about  to  strike  for 
freedom,  like  the  Hungarians  or  the  Lombards.  What, 
then,   is  the  prize  you  strive  for?" 

"The  Catholicism  of  Ireland,  and  then  of  England,  — the 
subjugation  of  the  haughtiest  rebel  to  the  Faith,  —  the  only 
one  whose  disaffection  menaces  our  Holy  Church;  for  the 
Lutheran  ism  of  the  German  is  scarce  worth  the  name  of 
enemy.     England  once  Catholic,  the  world  is  our  own!  " 

The  enthusiasm  of  his  manner,  and  the  excited  tones  of 
his  round,  full  voice  seemed  to  check  the  Jew,  whose  cold, 


RACCA  MORLACHE.  421 

sarcastic  features  were  turned  towards  the  priest  with  an 
expression  of  wonderment. 

"  Let  us  come  back  from  all  this  speculation  to  matter  of 
plain  fact,"  said  Morlache,  after  a  long  pause.  "What 
securities  are  offered  for  the  repayment  of  this  sum?  for, 
although  the  theme  be  full  of  interest  to  you,  to  me  it  has 
but  the  character  of  a  commercial  enterprise." 

"But  it  ought  not,"  said  D'Esmonde,  passionately.  "The 
downfall  of  the  tyranny  of  England  is  your  cause  as  much 
as  ours.  What  Genoa  and  Venice  were  in  times  past, 
they  may  become  again.  The  supremacy  of  the  seas  once 
wrested  from  that  haughty  power,  the  long-slumbering  ener- 
gies of  Southern  Europe  will  awaken,  the  great  trading 
communities  of  the  Levant  will  resume  their  ancient  place, 
and  the  rich  argosies  of  the  East  once  more  will  float  over 
the  waters  of  the  tideless  sea." 

"Not  in  our  time,  Abbe,  —  not  in  our  time,"  said  the  Jew, 
smiling. 

"But  are  we  only  to  build  for  ourselves?"  said  D'Es- 
monde. "Was  it  thus  your  own  great  forefathers  raised 
the  glorious  Temple?" 

The  allusion  called  up  but  a  cold  sneer  on  the  Israelite's 
dark  countenance,  and  D'Esmonde  knew  better  than  to 
repeat  a  blow  which  showed  itself  to  be  powerless. 

A  tap  at  the  door  here  broke  in  upon  the  colloquy,  and 
Jekyl's  voice  was  heard  on  the  outside. 

"Say  you  are  engaged, — that  you  cannot  admit  him," 
whispered  D'Esmonde.  "I  do  not  wish  that  he  should  see 
me  here." 

"A  thousand  pardons,  Morlache,"  said  Jekyl,  from  with- 
out; "but  when  I  followed  you  to  the  '  Pitti,'  I  left  a  young 
lady  here,  — has  she  gone  away,  or  is  she  still  here?  " 

"I  never  saw  her,"  said  Morlache.  "She  must  have  left 
before  I  returned." 

"Thanks, — good-bye,"  said  Jekyl;  and  his  quick  foot 
was  heard  ascending  the  stairs  again. 

"The  night  air  grows  chilly,"  said  the  Abb?,  as  he  arose 
and  shut  the  window;  and  the  boatmen,  mistaking  the 
sound  for  a  summons  to  approach,  pulled  up  to  the  spot. 

With  a  sudden  spring  Kate  bounded  into  the  boat,  while 


422  THE  DALTONS. 

yet  some  distance  ofif,  and  hurriedly  said,  "To  the  stairs 
beside  the  Santa  Trinila." 

The  clink  of  money,  as  she  took  out  her  purse,  made  the 
brief  command  intelligible,  and  they  shot  down  the  stream 
with  speed. 

"Do  not  speak  of  me,"  said  she,  covering  her  face  with 
her  kerchief  as  she  stepped  from  the  boat;  and  a  gold 
Napoleon  enforced  the  caution. 

It  was  now  night,  the  lamps  were  all  lighted,  and  the 
streets  crowded  by  that  bustling  throng  of  population  whose 
hours  of  business  or  pleasure  commence  when  day  has 
closed.  A  thin  drizzling  rain  was  falling,  and  the  footway 
was  wet  and  muddy.  Dressed  in  the  height  of  fashion,  — 
all  her  attire  suited  to  a  carriage,  —  Kate  set  out  to  walk 
homeward,  with  a  heart  sinking  from  terror.  Many  a  time 
in  her  condition  of  poverty,  with  patched  and  threadbare 
cloak,  had  she  travelled  the  dark  road  from  Lichtenthal  to 
Baden  after  nightfall,  fearless  and  undismayed,  no  dread 
of  danger  nor  of  insult  occurring  to  her  happy  spirit,  the 
"Gute  nacht "  of  some  homeward-bound  peasant  the  only 
sound  that  saluted  her.  But  now,  she  was  no  longer  in  the 
secluded  valley  of  the  great  Vaterland ;  her  way  led  through 
the  crowded  thoroughfares  of  a  great  city,  with  all  its  crash 
and  noise  and  movement. 

If,  in  her  wild  confusion,  she  had  no  thought  for  each 
incident  of  the  morning,  her  mind  was  full  of  "self-accus- 
ings."  How  explain  to  Lady  Hester  her  long  absence, 
and  her  return  alone  and  on  foot?  Her  verj'  maid,  Nina, 
might  arraign  her  conduct,  and  regard  her  with  distrust 
and  suspicion.  How  should  she  appear  in  Jekyl's  eyes, 
who  already  knew  her  secret?  and,  lastly,  what  answer 
return  to  her  poor  father's  letter,  —  that  letter  which  was 
the  cause  of  all  her  misfortunes? 

"I  will  tell  him  everything,"  said  she  to  herself,  as  she 
went  along.  "I  will  detail  the  whole  events  of  this  morn- 
ing, and  he  shall  see  that  my  failure  has  not  come  of  luke- 
warmness.  I  will  also  strive  to  show  him  the  nature  of  mj' 
position,  and  let  him  know  the  full  extent  of  the  sacrifice  he 
would  exact  from  me.  If  he  persist,  what  then?  Is  it 
better  to  go  back  and  share  the  poverty  I  cannot  alleviate  ? 


RACCA  MORLACHE.  423 

But  what  alternative  have  I?  Jekyl's  flatteries  are  but 
fictions.  Would  I  wish  them  to  be  otherwise?  Alas,  I 
cannot  tell;  I  do  not  even  know  my  own  heart  now.  Oh 
for  one  true-hearted  friend  to  guide  and  counsel  me!  " 
She  thought  of  George  Onslow,  —  rash,  impetuous,  and 
ardent;  she  thought  of  the  priest,  D'Esmonde,  but  the  last 
scene  in  which  he  figured  made  her  shrink  with  terror  from 
the  man  of  dark  intrigues  and  secret  wiles.  She  even 
thought  of  poor  Hanserl,  who,  in  all  the  simplicity  of  his 
nature,  she  wished  to  have  that  moment  beside  her.  "But 
he  would  say,  'Go  back;  return  to  the  humble  home  you 
quitted;  put  away  all  the  glittering  gauds  that  are  clinging 
to  and  clasping  your  very  heart.  Take,  once  more,  your 
lowly  place  at  hearth  and  board,  and  forget  the  bright  dream 
of  pleasure  you  have  passed  through.'  But  how  forget  it? 
Has  it  not  become  my  hope,  my  very  existence?  How 
easy  for  those  who  have  not  tasted  the  intoxicating  cup,  to 
say,  '  Be  cool  of  heart  and  head !  '  Nor  am  I  what  I  was. 
How  then  go  back  to  be  that  which  I  have  ceased  to  be? 
Would  that  I  had  never  left  it!  Would  that  I  could  live 
again  in  the  dreamland  of  the  poets  that  we  loved  so  well, 
and  wander  with  dearest  Nelly  through  those  forest  glades, 
peopled  with  the  creations  of  Uhland,  Tieck,  and  Cham- 
misso!  What  a  glorious  world  is  theirs,  and  how  unlike 
the  real  one !  " 

Thus,  lost  in  thoughts  conflicting  and  jarring  with  each 
other,  mingling  the  long  past  with  the  distant  future,  hop- 
ing and  fearing,  now  seeking  self-persuasion  here,  now 
controverting  her  own  opinions  there,  she  walked  hurriedly 
on,  unconscious  of  the  time,  the  place,  and  even  the  rude 
glances  bestowed  upon  her  by  many  who  gazed  at  her  with 
an  insolent  admiration.  What  an  armor  is  innocence! 
how  proof  against  the  venomed  dart  of  malice?  Kate  never 
knew  the  ordeal  through  which  she  was  passing.  She  nei- 
ther saw  the  looks  nor  heard  the  comments  of  those  that 
passed.  If  her  mind  ever  turned  from  the  throng  of  thoughts 
that  oppressed  it,  it  was  when  some  momentary  diflSculty 
of  the  way  recalled  her  to  herself;  for,  as  she  escaped 
from  the  smaller  streets,  the  crowd  and  crash  increased, 
and  she  found  herself  borne  along  as  in  a  strong  current. 


424  THE  DALTONS. 

"Does  this  lead  to  the  Piazza  Annunziata?"  asked  she 
of  a  woman  at  a  fruit-stall. 

"Tell  her,  Giacomo,"  said  the  woman  to  a  youth,  who, 
with  a  water-melon  in  his  hand,  lay  at  full  length  on  the 
pavement. 

"Per  Baccho!  but  she  's  handsome!  "  said  he,  holding  up 
the  paper  lantern  to  gaze  at  her.  And  Kate  hurried  on  in 
terror. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

A     STREET     RENCONTRE. 

Lady  Hester  Onslow  had  passed  a  day  of  martyrdom. 
There  was  scarcely  a  single  contrariety  in  the  long  cata- 
logue of  annoyances  which  had  not  fallen  to  her  share. 
Her  servants,  habitually  disciplined  to  perfection,  had  ad- 
mitted every  bore  of  her  acquaintance,  while,  to  the  few 
she  really  wished  to  see,  admittance  had  been  denied.  The 
rumor  of  an  approaching  departure  had  got  wind  through 
the  servants,  and  the  hall  and  the  courtyard  were  crowded 
with  creditors,  duns,  and  begging  impostors  of  every  age 
and  class  and  country.  It  seemed  as  if  every  one  with  a 
petition  or  a  bill,  an  unsatisfied  complaint  or  an  unsettled 
balance,  had  given  each  other  a  general  rendezvous  that 
morning  at  the  Mazzarini  Palace. 

It  is  well  known  how  the  most  obsequious  tradespeople 
grow  peremptory  when  passports  are  signed  and  post- 
horses  are  harnessed.  The  bland  courteousness  with  which 
they  receive  "your  Ladyship's  orders"  undergoes  a  terrible 
change.  Departure  is  the  next  thing  to  death.  Another 
country  sounds  like  another  world.  The  deferential  bash- 
fulness  that  could  not  hint  at  the  mention  of  money,  now 
talks  boldly  of  his  debt.  The  solvent  creditor,  who  said 
always  "  at  your  convenience,"  has  suddenly  a  most  press- 
ing call  "  to  make  up  a  large  sum  by  Saturday." 

All  the  little  cajoleries  and  coquetries,  all  the  little  seduc- 
tions and  temptations  of  trade,  are  given  up.  The  invi- 
tations to  buy  are  converted  into  suggestions  for  "cash 
payment."  It  is  very  provoking  and  very  disenchanting ! 
From  a  liberal  and  generous  patron,  you  suddenly  discover 
yourself  transformed  into  a  dubious  debtor.  All  the  halo 
that  has  surrounded  your  taste  is  changed  for  a  chill  at- 
mosphere of  suspicion  and  distrust.     The  tradesfolk,  whose 


426  THE  DALTONS. 

respectful  voices  never  rose  above  a  whisper  in  the  hall, 
now  grew  clamorous  in  the  antechamber;  and  more  than 
once  did  they  actually  obtrude  themselves  in  person  within 
those  charmed  precincts  inhabited  by  Lady  Hester. 

What  had  become  of  Miss  Dalton  ?  —  where  could  she 
be  all  this  while?  Had  not  Mr.  Jekyl  called?  —  what  was 
he  about  that  he  had  not  "  arranged  "  with  all  these  "  tire- 
some creatures"  ?  Was  there  no  one  who  knew  what  to 
do?  Was  not  Captain  Onslow,  even,  to  be  found?  It  was 
quite  impossible  that  these  people  could  be  telling  the  truth ; 
the  greater  number,  if  not  all  of  them,  must  have  been 
paid  already,  for  she  had  spent  a  world  of  money  lat- 
terly—  "somehow."  Celestine  was  charged  with  a  mes- 
sage to  this  effect,  which  had  a  result  the  very  opposite  to 
what  it  was  intended;  and  now  the  noisy  tongues  and 
angry  accents  grew  bolder  and  louder.  Still  none  came  to 
her  rescue;  and  she  was  left  alone  to  listen  to  the  rebel- 
lious threatenings  that  murmured  in  the  courtyard,  or  to 
read  the  ill-spelled  impertinences  of  such  as  preferred  to 
epistolize  their  complaints. 

The  visitors  who  found  their  way  to  the  drawing-room 
had  to'  pass  through  this  motley  and  clamorous  host;  and, 
at  each  opening  of  the  door,  the  sounds  swelled  loudly  out. 

More  than  once  she  bethought  her  of  Sir  Stafford ;  but 
shame  opposed  the  resolution.  His  liberality,  indeed,  was 
boundless ;  and  therein  lay  the  whole  difficulty.  AVere  the 
matter  one  for  discussion  or  angry  remonstrance,  she  could 
have  adventured  it  without  a  dread.  She  could  easily  have 
brought  herself  to  confront  a  struggle,  but  was  quite  un- 
equal to  an  act  of  submission.  Among  the  numerous  visit- 
ors who  now  thronged  the  salons^  Lord  Norwood,  who  had 
just  returned  from  his  shooting  excursion  in  the  Maremma, 
was  the  only  one  with  whom  she  had  anything  like  intimacy. 

"I  am  but  a  poor  counsellor  in  such  a  case,"  said  he, 
laughing.  *'  I  was  never  dunned  in  my  life,  —  personally, 
I  mean,  —  for  I  always  take  care  not  to  be  found ;  and  as 
to  written  applications,  I  know  a  creditor's  seal  and  super- 
scription as  well  as  though  I  had  seen  him  affix  them. 
The  very  postmark  is  peculiar." 

"  This  levity  is  very  unfeeling  at  such  a  moment,"  said 


A  STREET  RENCONTRE.  427 

Lady  Hester,  angrily;  "and  when  you  see  me  so  utterly 
deserted,  too !  " 

"  But  where  's  Jekyl?  He  ought  to  know  how  to  manage 
this ! " 

"  He  has  never  been  here  since  morning.  His  conduct  is 
inexcusable !  " 

"Aud  George?" 

"Out  the  whole  day!  " 

"  And  the  'Dalton  '?  for  she  has  rather  a  good  head,  if  I 
don't  mistake  her." 

"  She  took  the  carriage  into  town,  and  has  not  returned." 

"  By  Jove  !  I'd  write  a  line  to  Sir  Stafford ;  I'd  tell  him 
that  I  was  going  for  change  of  air,  and  all  that  sort  of 
thing,  to  Como  for  a  week  or  two,  and  that  these  people  were 
so  pestering  and  pressing,  and  all  that;  that,  in  fact,  you 
were  worried  to  death  about  it ;  and  finding  that  your  means 
were  so  very  limited  — " 

"  But  he  has  been  most  liberal.  His  generosity  has  been 
without  bounds." 

"  So  much  the  better ;  he  '11  come  down  all  the  readier 
now." 

"I  feel  shame  at  such  a  course,"  said  she,  in  a  weak, 
faint  voice. 

"  As  I  don't  precisely  know  what  that  sensation  is,  I  can't 
advise  against  it;  but  it  must  needs  be  a  very  powerful 
emotion,  if  it  prevent  you  accepting  money." 

"  Can  you  think  of  nothing  else,  Norwood?" 

"To  be  sure  I  can  —  there  are  twenty  ways  to  do  the 
thing.  Close  the  shutters,  and  send  for  Buccellini ;  be  ill  — 
dangerously  ill —  and  leave  this  to-morrow,  at  daybreak ;  or 
give  a  ball,  like  Dashwood,  and  start  when  the  company  are 
at  supper.  You  lose  the  spoons  and  forks,  to  be  sure ;  but 
that  can't  be  helped.  You  might  try  and  bully  them,  too  — 
though  perhaps  it 's  late  for  that ;  and  lastly  —  and,  I  be- 
lieve, best  of  all  —  raise  a  few  hundreds,  and  pay  them  each 
something." 

"  But  how  or  where  raise  the  money?  " 

"  Leave  that  to  me,  if  it  must  be  done.  The  great  bene- 
factor of  mankind  was  the  fellow  that  invented  bills.  The 
glorious  philanthropist  that  first  devised  the  bright  expedient 


428  THE  DALTONS. 

of  living  by  paper,  when  bullion  failed,  was  a  grand  and 
original  genius.  How  many  a  poor  fellow  might  have  been 
rescued  from  the  Serpentine  by  a  few  words  scrawled  over  a 
five-shilling  stamp !  What  a  turn  to  a  man's  whole  earthly 
career  has  been  often  given,  as  his  pen  glided  over  the 
imaginative  phrase,  '  I  promise  to  pay ' !  " 

Lady  Hester  paid  no  attention  to  the  Viscount's  moral- 
izings.  Shame  —  indignant  shame  —  monopolized  all  her 
feelings. 

"Well,"  said  she,  at  last,  "I  believe  it  must  be  so.  I 
cannot  endure  this  any  longer.  Jekyl  has  behaved  shame- 
fully ;  and  George  I  '11  never  forgive.  They  ought  to  have 
taken  care  of  all  this.  And  now,  Norwood,  to  procure  the 
money  what  is  to  be  done?" 

"  Here 's  the  patent  treasury  for  pocket  use  —  the  '  Young 
Man's  Best  Companion,' "  said  he,  taking  out  of  a  black 
morocco  case  three  or  four  blank  bill-stamps,  together  with 
a  mass  of  acceptances  of  various  kinds,  the  proceeds  of 
various  play  debts,  the  majority  of  which  he  well  knew  to  be 
valueless.  "What  amount  will  be  sufficient, — how  much 
shall  we  draw  for?  "  said  he,  seating  himself,  pen  in  hand, 
at  the  table. 

"I  cannot  even  guess,"  said  she,  trembling  with  embar- 
rassment and  confusion.  "  There  are  all  these  people's 
accounts  and  letters.  I  suppose  they  are  all  horrid  cheats. 
I  'm  sure  I  never  got  half  the  things,  and  that  the  rest  are 
already  paid  for.  But  no  matter  now;  let  us  have  done 
with  them  at  any  cost." 

"  '  Morlandi,  coachmaker  '  —  pretty  well  for  Signor  Mor- 
landi !  "  said  Norwood  —  "  eleven  hundred  scudi  for  repairs 
to  carriages  —  for  destroying  your  patent  axles,  and  replac- 
ing English  varnish  by  the  lacquer  of  a  tea-tray  —  something 
less  than  two  hundred  and  fifty  pounds!  " 

"He  is  an  obliging  creature,"  said  Lady  Hester,  "and 
always  punctual." 

"  In  that  case  we  '11  deal  generously  with  him.  He  shall 
have  half  his  money,  if  he  gives  a  receipt  in  full." 

"  '  Legendre,  coiffeur ;  eight  thousand  francs.'  Pas  mal, 
Monsieur  Legendre!  —  kid  gloves  and  perfumes.  Madonna 
bands  and  Macassar  oil,  are  costly  things  to  deal  in." 


A  STREET  RENCONTRE.  429 

"That  is  really  iniquitous,"  said  Lady  Hester.  "I  see 
every  bouquet  is  put  down  at  a  hundred  francs !  " 

"A  conservatory,  at  that  rate,  is  better  property  than 
a  coal-mine.  Shall  we  say  one  thousand  francs  for  this 
honest  coiffeur?  " 

"Impossible!  He  would  scorn  such  an  offer." 

"Pardon  me.  I  know  these  people  somewhat  better 
and  longer  than  you  do ;  and  so  far  even  from  suffering 
in  his  estimation  —  if  that  were  a  matter  of  any  conse- 
quence—  you  will  rise  in  his  good  opinion.  An  Italian 
always  despises  a  dupe,  but  entertains  a  sincere  respect 
for  all  who  detect  knavery.  I  '11  set  him  down  for  one 
thousand,  to  be  increased  to  fifteen  hundred  if  he'll  tell 
me  how  to  cut  down  his  neighbor,  Guercini." 

"  What  of  Guercini?    How  much  is  his  claim? " 

"A  trifle  under  five  thousand  crowns." 

"  Nearly  one  thousand  pounds !  "  exclaimed  she. 
"Say,  rather,   eleven  hundred  and  upwards,"  said  Nor- 
wood. 

"It  is  incredible  how  little  I've  had  from  him:  a  few 
trifling  rings  and  brooches;  some  insignificant  alterations 
and  new  settings ;  one  or  two  little  presents  to  Kate ; 
and,  I  really  believe,  nothing   more." 

"  We  are  getting  deeper  and  deeper,"  said  Norwood, 
turning  over  the  bills.  "  Contardo,  the  wine-merchant, 
and  Frisani,  table-decker,  are  both  large  claimants.  If 
pine-apples  were  the  daily  food  of  the  servants'  hall,  they 
could  scarcely  cut  a  more  formidable  figure  in  the  reckon- 
ing, —  indeed,  if  the  whole  establishment  did  nothing  but 
munch  them  during  all  their  leisure  hours,  the  score  need 
not  be  greater.  Do  you  know,  Hester,  that  the  rogueries 
of  the  Continent  are  a  far  heavier  infliction  than  the  income- 
tax,  and  that  the  boasted  economy  of  a  foreign  residence 
is  sensibly  diminished  by  the  unfortunate  fact  that  one 
honest  tradesman  is  not  to  be  found  from  Naples  to  the 
North  Pole?  They  are  Spartans  in  deceit,  and  only  dis- 
graced whenever  the  rascality  is  detected.  Now,  it  is 
quite  absurd  to  read  such  an  item  as  this :  '  Bonbons  and 
dried  fruits,  three  hundred  and  seventy  crowns ! '  Why, 
if  your  guests  were  stuffed  with  marrons  glaces,  this  would 
be  an  exaggeration." 


430  THE   DALTONS. 

"  You  are  very  tiresome,  Norwood,"  said  she,  peevishly. 
"I  don't  want  to  be  told  that  these  people  are  all  knaves; 
their  character  for  honesty  is  no  affair  of  mine ;  if  it  were, 
Buccellini  could  easily  mesmerize  any  one  of  them  and  learn 
all  his  secrets.  I  only  wish  to  get  rid  of  them,  —  it 's  very 
distressing  to  hear  their  dreadful  voices,  and  see  their  more 
dreadful  selves  in  the  court  beneath." 

"  The  task  is  somewhat  more  difficult  than  I  bargained 
for,"  said  Norwood,  thoughtfully.  "  I  fancied  a  few  '  hun- 
dreds '  would  suffice,  but  we  must  read  '  thousands '  instead. 
In  any  case,  I  '11  hold  a  conference  with  them,  and  see  what 
can  be  done." 

"  Do  so,  then,  and  lose  no  time,  for  I  see  Midchekoff's 
chasseur  below,  and  I  'm  sure  the  Prince  is  coming." 

Norwood  gave  her  a  look  which  made  her  suddenly 
become  scarlet,  and  then  left  the  room  without  speaking. 

If  he  had  not  been  himself  a  debtor  with  the  greater 
number  of  those  who  waited  below,  few  could  have  ac- 
quitted themselves  more  adroitly  in  such  a  mission.  He 
was  an  adept  in  that  clever  game  by  which  duns  are  foiled 
and  tradesmen  mollified ;  he  knew  every  little  menace  and 
every  flattery  to  apply  to  them,  when  to  soothe  and  when 
to  snub  them.  All  these  arts  he  was  both  ready  and  will- 
ing to  exercise,  were  it  not  for  the  unpleasant  difficulty 
that  his  own  embarrassments  rendered  him  a  somewhat 
dubious  ambassador.  In  fact,  as  he  himself  phrased  it, 
"  it  was  playing  advocate  with  one  leg  in  the  dock." 

He  lingered  a  little,  therefore,  as  he  went;  he  stopped 
on  the  landing  of  the  stairs  to  peep  out  on  the  tumultuous 
assemblage  beneath,  like  a  general  surveying  the  enemy's 
line  before  the  engagement ;  nor  was  he  over-pleased  to 
remark  that  little  Purvis  was  bustling  about  among  the 
crowd,  note-book  and  pencil  in  hand,  palpably  taking 
evidence  and  storing  up  facts  for  future  mention.  As  he 
was  still  looking,  the  great  gate  was  thrown  open  with  a 
crash,  and  a  caliche,  dirty  and  travel-stained,  was  whirled 
into  the  court  by  three  steaming  and  panting  posters. 
After  a  brief  delay,  a  short,  thick-set  figure,  enveloped  in 
travelling-gear,  descended,  and  putting,  as  it  seemed,  a 
few  questions  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  assembled  throng, 
entered  the  house. 


A  STREET  RENCONTRE.  431 

Curious  to  learn  who,  what,  and  whence  the  new  ariival 
came,  Norwood  hurried  downstairs;  but  all  that  he  could 
learn  from  the  postilion  was  that  the  stranger  had  posted 
from  Genoa,  using  the  greatest  speed  all  the  way,  and  never 
halting,  save  a  few  minutes  for  refreshment.  The  traveller 
was  not  accompanied  by  a  servant,  and  his  luggage  bore 
neither  name  nor  crest  to  give  any  clew  as  to  his  identity. 
That  he  was  English,  and  that  he  had  gone  direct  to  Sir 
Stafford's  apartments,  was  the  whole  sum  of  the  Viscount's 
knowledge ;  but  even  this  seemed  so  worthy  of  remark  that 
he  hastened  back  with  the  tidings  to  Lady  Hester,  instead 
of  proceeding  on  his  errand. 

She  treated  the  announcement  with  less  interest.  It 
might  be  Proctor,  —  Sir  Stafford's  man.  "Was  he  tall  and 
black- whiskered?  No,  he  was  short;  and,  so  far  as  Nor- 
wood saw,  he  thought  him  fair-haired.  "She  knew  of 
nobody  to  bear  that  description.  It  might  be  an  English 
physician  from  Genoa,  —  there  was  one  there,  or  in  Nice,  she 
forgot  exactly  which,  who  was  celebrated  for  treating  gout, 
or  sore  eyes,  —  she  could  not  remember  precisely,  but  it  was 
certainly  one  or  the  other.  On  recollection,  however,  it 
was  probably  gout,  because  he  had  attended  Lord  Hugmore, 
who  was  blind." 

"In  that  case,"  said  Norwood,  "Onslow  would  seem  to 
be  worse." 

"  Yes,  poor  man,  much  worse.  George  sat  up  with  him 
the  night  before  last,  and  said  he  suffered  terribly.  His 
mind  used  to  wander  at  intervals,  too,  and  he  spoke  as  if 
he  was  very  unhappy." 

"Unhappy,  — a  man  with  upwards  of  thirty  thousand  a 
year  unhappy!  "  said  Norwood,  clasping  his  hands  over  his 
head  as  he  spoke. 

"You  forget,  my  Lord,  that  there  are  other  considera- 
tions than  moneyed  ones  which  weigh  at  least  with  some 
persons;  and  if  Onslow's  fortune  be  a  princely  one,  he  may 
still  feel  compunctious  regrets  for  his  detestable  conduct 
to  me  /  " 

"Oh,  I  forgot  that !  "  said  Norwood,  with  a  most  laudable 
air  of  seriousness. 

"It  was  very  kind  of  you,  my  Lord,  —  very  considerate 


432  THE   DALTONS. 

and  very  kind,  indeed,  to  forget  it.  Yet  I  should  have 
fancied  it  was  the  very  sentiment  uppermost  in  the  mind  of 
any  one  entering  this  chamber,  —  witnessing  the  solitary 
seclusion  of  my  daily  life,  beholding  the  resources  by  which 
the  weary  hours  are  beguiled,  not  to  speak  of  the  ravages 
which  sorrow  has  left  upon  these  features." 

"On  that  score,  at  least,  I  can  contradict  you,  Hester," 
said  he,  with  a  smile  of  flattering  meaning.  "It  is  now 
above  eight  years  since  first  — " 

"How  can  you  be  so  tiresome?"  said  she,  pettishly. 

"Prince  Midchekofif,  my  Lady,  presents  his  compliments," 
said  a  servant,  "and  wishes  to  know  if  your  Ladyship  will 
receive  him  at  dinner  to-day,  and  at  what  hour?" 

"How  provoking!  Yes,  —  say,  '  Yes,  at  eight  o'clock,'  " 
said  she,  walking  up  and  down  the  room  with  impatience. 
"You  '11  stay  and  meet  him,  Norwood.  I  know  you  're 
not  great  friends;  but  no  matter,  George  is  so  uncertain. 
He  left  us  t'  other  day  to  entertain  the  Prince  alone,  — 
Kate  and  myself,  —  only  fancy ;  and  as  he  takes  half-hour 
fits  of  silence,  and  Kate  occasionally  won't  speak  for  a 
whole  evening  together,  my  part  was  a  pleasant  one." 

"How  Florence  wrongs  you  -both! "  said  Norwood. 
"They  say  that  no  one  is  more  agreeable  to  your  Ladyship 
than  the  Midchekoff,"  said  he,  slowly  and  pointedly. 

"As  Miss  Dalton's  admirer,  —  I  hope  rumor  adds  that," 
said  she,  hastily. 

"What?  are  you  really  serious?  Has  the  Dal  ton  pre- 
tensions?" 

"Perhaps  not;  but  the  Prince  has,"  interrupted  Lady 
Hester.  "But  you  are  forgetting  these  people  all  the 
while.  Do  pray  do  something  —  anything  with  them;  and 
don't  forget  us  at  eight  o'clock."  And  with  this  Lady 
Hester  hurried  from  the  room,  as  if  admonished  by  her 
watch  of  the  lateness  of  the  hour,  but  really  anxious  to 
escape  further  interrogatory  from  the  Viscount. 

When  Norwood  reached  the  court,  he  was  surprised  to 
find  it  empty;  not  one  of  the  eager  creditors  remained,  but 
all  was  still  and  silent. 

"What  has  become  of  these  good  people?"  asked  be  of 
the  porter. 


A  STREET  RENCONTRE.  433 

"The  stranger  who  arrived  in  the  caleche  awhile  ago 
spoke  a  few  words  to  them,  and  they  went." 

This  was  all  that  he  knew,  and  being  a  porter,  —  one  of 
that  privileged  caste  whose  prerogative  it  is  never  to  reveal 
what  takes  place  before  their  eyes,  —  his  present  communi- 
cation was  remarkable. 

"  Would  that  the  good  genius  had  remembered  me  in  his 
moment  of  generous  abandonment !  "  muttered  Noi'wood,  as 
he  took  his  road  homeward  to  dress  for  dinner. 

Little  scrupulous  about  the  means  of  getting  out  of  a 
difficulty,  provided  it  were  only  successful,  Norwood 
scarcely  bestowed  another  thought  upon  the  whole  matter, 
and  lounged  along  the  streets,  as  forgetful  of  the  late  scene 
as  though  it  had  passed  twenty  years  before. 

As  the  Viscount  strolled  along  towards  his  lodgings,  Kate 
Dalton,  with  trembling  limbs  and  palpitating  heart, 
threaded  her  way  through  the  thronged  streets,  now  wet  and 
slippery  from  a  thin  rain  that  was  falling.  So  long  as  her 
road  lay  through  the  less-frequented  thoroughfares,  her 
appearance  excited  little  or  no  attention  in  the  passers-by; 
but  when  she  entered  the  Piazza  Santa  Trinita,  all  ablaze 
with  gas-lamps  and  the  reflected  lights  from  brilliant  shops, 
many  stopped,  turned,  and  gazed  at  the  strange  sight  of  a 
young  and  beautiful  girl,  attired  in  the  very  height  of 
fashion,  being  alone  and  afoot  at  such  an  hour.  Unac- 
countable even  to  mystery,  as  it  seemed,  there  was  some- 
thing in  her  gait  and  carriage  that  at  once  repelled  the 
possibility  of  a  disparaging  impression,  and  many  touched 
or  removed  their  hats  respectfully  as  they  made  way  for 
her  to  pass.  To  avoid  the  carriages,  which  whirled  past  in 
every  direction  and  at  tremendous  speed,  she  passed  close 
along  by  the  houses;  and,  in  doing  so,  came  within  that 
brilliant  glare  of  light  that  poured  from  the  glass  doors  of 
the  great  Cafe  of  the  Piazza.  It  was  exactly  the  hour  when 
the  idle  loungers  of  Florence  society  —  that  listless  class 
who  form  the  staple  of  our  club  life  in  England  —  were 
swarming  to  talk  of  the  plans  of  the  evening,  what  resources 
of  pleasure  were  available,  and  what  receptions  were  open. 
The  drizzling  rain,  and  the  cold,  raw  feeling  of  the  air  pre- 
vented their  being  seated,  as  their  custom  was,  before  the 

VOL.  I.  —  28 


434  THE  DALTONS. 

doors,  where  in  every  attitude  of  graceful  languor  they 
habitually  smoked  their  cigars  and  discussed  the  passers- 
by,  in  all  the  plenitude  of  recreative  indolence.  The  group 
consisted  of  men  of  every  age  and  country. 

There  were  princes  and  blacklegs  and  adventurers ;  some 
with  real  rank  and  fortune,  others  as  destitute  of  character 
as  of  means.  Many  owned  names  great  and  renowned  in 
history;  others  bore  designations  only  chronicled  in  the 
records  of  criminal  jurisprudence.  All  were  well  dressed, 
and,  so  far  as  cursory  notice  could  detect,  possessed  the 
ease  and  bearing  of  men  familiar  with  the  habits  of  good 
society.  Although  mixing  in  very  distinct  circles,  here, 
at  least,  they  met  every  day  on  terms  of  familiar  equality, 
discussing  the  politics  of  the  hour  and  the  events  of  the 
world  with  seeming  frankness  and  candor. 

From  a  small  chamber  at  the  back  of  the  cafe,  a  little  tide 
of  loungers  seemed  to  ebb  and  flow;  while  the  sharp  rattling 
sound  of  a  dice-box  indicated  the  nature  of  the  occupation 
that  went  forward  there.  The  small  apartment  was 
thronged  with  spectators  of  the  game;  and  even  around 
the  door  several  were  standing,  content  to  hear  the  tidings 
of  a  contest  they  could  not  witness. 

"To  sit  upon  the  Ponte  Carraja,  and  chuck  rouleaux  of 
gold  into  the  Arno,  would  be  to  the  full  as  amusing,  and 
not  a  more  costly  pastime,"  said  a  sharp,  ringing  voice, 
which,  once  heard,  there  was  no  difficulty  in  recognizing 
as  Haggerstone's. 

"But  Onslow  plays  well,"  said  another. 

"When  he's  in  luck,  sir,"  said  the  Colonel.  "Let  him 
always  have  the  winning  horse  to  ride,  and  I  don't  say  he  '11 
lose  the  saddle;  but  Maraffl  would  win  on  a  donkey." 

"Is  he  a  Russian?"  asked  one. 

"No,  sir,  he's  worse;  he's  a  Greek.  I  know  everything 
about  him.  His  mother  was  a  Finlander,  and  the  father 
a  Cephalonian.  I  don't  think  Satan  himself  would  ask  a 
better  parentage." 

"What  luck !  By  Jove  I  I  never  saw  such  luck !  "  said  a 
voice  from  within  the  door.  "  Onslow  has  no  chance  with 
him." 

"Nor  will   you,  sir,   if   you  persist  in  expx-essing   your 


A  STREET  RENCONTRE.  435 

opinion  in  English,"  said  Ilaggerstone.  "Maraffi  speaks 
every  language,  plays  every  game,  and  knows  the  use  of 
every  weapon,  from  a  jereed  to  a  Joe  Manton." 

"I  '11  not  test  his  abilities  at  any  of  them,"  said  the  other, 
laughing. 

"Per  Baccho!  there  goes  something  new,"  said  a  young 
Italian,  from  the  window  that  looked  into  the  street. 
"Who's  she?" 

*■'' Diantre  !  "  said  the  old  Due  de  Parivaux.  "That  is 
something  very  exquisite,  indeed.  She  was  splashed  by 
that  carriage  that  passed,  and  I  just  saw  her  foot." 

"She's  the  prima  donna  from  Milan." 

"She  's  the  Cipriani.     I  know  her  figure  perfectly." 

"She  's  very  like  the  Princesse  de  Raoule." 

"Taller,  and  younger." 

"And  fifty  times  handsomer.  What  eyes!  By  Jove! 
I  wish  the  drosky  would  never  move  on!  She  is  regularly 
imprisoned  there." 

"You  are  very  ungallant,  gentlemen,  I  must  say,"  said 
the  young  Count  de  Guilmard,  the  French  secretary  of 
legation,  who,  having  finished  his  coffee  and  liquor,  coolly 
arranged  his  curls  beneath  his  hat  before  the  glass,  — 
"very  ungallant,  indeed,  not  to  offer  an  arm  to  an  unpro- 
tected princess.  We  Frenchmen  understand  our  devoirs 
differently."  And,  so  saying,  he  passed  out  into  the  street, 
while  the  rest  pressed  up  closer  to  the  window  to  observe 
his  proceedings. 

"Cleverly  done,  Guilmard!"  cried  one.  "See  how  he 
affects  to  have  protected  her  from  the  pole  of  that  carriage." 

"  She  '11  not  notice  him."  —  "She  will."  —  "She  has."  — 
"  She  has  n't."  —  "She  is  moving  his  way!  "  —  "Not  at  all." 

—  "She  's  speaking!  "  —  "There,  I  told  you  he  'd  succeed." 

—  "But  he  hasn't,  though."  Amid  all  these  phrases, 
which  rattled  on  more  rapidly  than  we  can  write  them, 
Onslow  joined  the  party,  one  heavy  venture  on  a  single 
card  having  involved  him  in  a  tremendous  loss. 

"Is  that  a  countrywoman  of  yours,  Onslow?"  asked  a 
young  Russian  noble.  "If  so,  the  entente  cordlale  with 
France  seems  scarcely  so  secure  as  statesmen  tell  us." 

Onslow  gave  one  glance  through  the  window,  and  dashed 


436  THE  DALTONS. 

into  the  street  with  a  bound  like  the  spring  of  a  wild 
animal.  He  threw  himself  between  Guilmard  and  Kate. 
The  Frenchman  lifted  his  cane,  and  the  same  instant  he  fell 
backwards  upon  the  pavement,  rather  hurled  than  struck 
down  by  the  strong  arm  of  the  young  Guardsman.  Before 
the  lookers-on  could  hasten  out,  George  had  hailed  a  car- 
riage, and,  assisting  Kate  in,  took  his  seat  beside  her, 
and  drove  off. 

So  sudden  was  the  whole  incident,  and  so  engrossing  the 
terror  of  poor  Kate's  mind,  that  she  saw  nothing  of  Avhat 
passed,  and  was  merely  conscious  that  by  George's  oppor- 
tune coming  she  was  rescued  from  the  insolent  attentions  of 
the  stranger. 

"Did  he  speak  to  you?  Did  he  dare  to  address  you?" 
asked  Onslow,  in  a  voice  which  boiling  passion  rendered 
almost  unintelligible. 

"If  he  did,  I  know  not,"  said  she,  as  she  covered  her 
face  with  shame,  and  struggled  against  the  emotion  that 
almost  choked  her. 

"  He  took  your  arm ;  he  certainly  laid  hold  of  your  hand !  " 

"It  was  all  so  rapid  that  I  can  tell  nothing,"  said  she, 
sobbing;  "and  although  my  courage  never  failed  me  till 
you  came,  then  I  thought  I  should  have  fainted." 

"  But  how  came  you  alone,  and  on  foot,  and  at  such  an 
hour,  too?     Where  had  you  been?" 

These  questions  he  put  with  a  sort  of  stern  resolution 
that  showed  no  evasive  answer  would  rescue  her. 

"Did  you  leave  home  without  a  carriage,  or  even  a  ser- 
vant?" asked  he  again,  as  no  answer  was  returned  to  his 
former  question. 

"I  did  take  a  carriage  in  the  morning;  and  —  and  —  " 

"Sent  it  away  again,"  continued  George,  impetuously. 
"And  where  did  you  drive  to,  — where  pass  the  day?" 

Kate  hung  her  head  in  silence,  while  her  heart  felt  as  if  it 
would  burst  from  very  agony. 

"This  is  no  idle  curiosity  of  mine,  Miss  Dalton,"  said 
he,  speaking  with  a  slow  and  measured  utterance.  "The 
society  you  have  mixed  with  here  is  not  above  any  re- 
proach nor  beneath  any  suspicion.  I  insist  upon  knowing 
where    you    have   been,    and  with   whom?     So,   then,   you 


A  STREET  RENCONTRE. 


487 


refuse  to  speak,  —  you  will  not  tell.    If  it  be  Lady  Hester's 
secret  —  " 

"No,  no!     The  secret  is  mine,  and  mine  only.     I  swear 


to  you,  by  all  we  both  believe  in,  tnat  it  has  no  concern 
with  any  one  save  myself." 

"And  can  you  not  confide  it  to  me?     Have  I  no  right  to 
ask  for  the  confidence,  Kate?"  said  he,  with  tenderness. 


488  THE  DALTONS. 

"Know  you  any  one  more  deeply  and  sincerely  your  friend 
than  I  am,  — more  ready  to  aid,  protect,  or  counsel  you?" 

"But  this  I  cannot  —  must  not  tell  you,"  said  she,  in 
accents  broken  by  sobbing. 

"Let  me  know,  at  least,  enough  to  refute  the  insolence  of 
an  imputation  upon  your  conduct.  I  cannot  tamely  sit  by 
and  hear  the  slanderous  stories  that  to-morrow  or  next  day 
will  gain  currency  through  the  town." 

"I  cannot,  — I  cannot,"  was  all  that  she  could  utter. 

"If  hot  me,  then,  choose  some  other  defender.  Unpro- 
tected and  undefended  you  must  not  be." 

"I  need  none,  sir;  none  will  asperse  me!"  said  she, 
haughtily. 

"What!  you  say  this?  while  scarce  five  minutes  since  I 
saw  you  outraged,  — insulted  in  the  open  street?" 

A  burst  of  tears,  long  repressed,  here  broke  from  Kate ;  and 
for  some  minutes  her  sobs  alone  were  heard  in  the  silence. 

"I  will  ask  but  one  question  more,  Miss  Dalton,"  said 
George,  slowly,  as  the  carriage  passed  under  the  arched 
gateway  of  the  Palace,  "and  then  this  incident  is  sealed  to 
me  forever.  Is  this  secret  —  whatever  it  be  —  in  your  own 
sole  keeping;  or  is  your  confidence  shared  in  by  another?  " 

"It  is,"  murmured  Kate,  below  her  breath. 

"You  mean  that  it  is  shared?"  asked  he,  eagerly. 

"Yes,  Mr.  Jekyl  at  least  knows  —  " 

"Jekyl!"  cried  George,  passionately;  "and  is  Alfred 
Jekj'l  your  adviser  and  your  confidant?  Enough;  you 
have  told  me  quite  enough,"  said  he,  dashing  open  the  door 
of  the  carriage  as  it  drew  up  to  the  house.  He  gave  his 
hand  to  Kate  to  alight,  and  then,  turning  away,  left  her, 
without  even  a  "good-bye,"  while  Kate  hurried  to  her  room, 
her  heart  almost  breaking  with  agony. 

"I  shall  be  late,  Nina,"  said  she,  affecting  an  air  and 
voice  of  unconcern,  as  she  entered  her  room;  "you  must 
dress  me  rapidly." 

"Mademoiselle  must  have  been  too  pleasantly  engaged  to 
remember  the  hour,"  said  the  other,  with  an  easy  pertness 
quite  different  from  her  ordinary  manner. 

More  struck  by  the  tone  than  by  the  words  themselves, 
Kate  turned  a  look  of  surprise  on  the  speaker. 


A   STREET  RENCONTRE.  439 

"It  is  so  easy  to  forget  one's  self  at  Morlache's,  they 
say,"  added  the  girl,  with  a  saucy  smile;  and  although 
stung  by  the  impertinence,  Kate  took  no  notice  of  the 
speech.  "Mademoiselle  will  of  course  never  wear  that 
dress  again,"  said  Nina,  as  she  contemptuously  threw  from 
her  the  mud-stained  and  rain-spotted  dress  she  had  worn 
that  morning.  "  We  have  a  Basque  proverb,  Mademoiselle, 
about  those  who  go  out  in  a  carriage  and  come  back  on 
foot." 

"Nina,  what  do  you  mean  by  these  strange  words  and  this 
still  more  strange  manner?"  asked  Kate,  with  a  haughti- 
ness she  had  never  before  assumed  towards  the  girl. 

"I  do  not  pretend  to  say  that  Mademoiselle  has  not  the 
right  to  choose  her  confidantes,  but  the  Principessa  de  San 
Martello  and  the  Duchessa  di  Rivoli  did  not  think  me 
beneath   their   notice." 

"Nina,  you  are  more  unintelligible  than  ever,"  cried 
Kate,  who  still,  through  all  the  dark  mystery  of  her  words, 
saw  the  lowering  storm  of  coming  peril. 

"I  may  speak  too  plainly,  too  bluntly,  Mademoiselle, 
but  I  can  scarcely  be  reproached  with  equivocating ;  and  I 
repeat  that  my  former  mistresses  honored  me  with  their 
secret  confidence;  and  they  did  wisely,  too,  for  I  should 
have  discovered  everything  of  myself,  and  my  discretion 
would  not  have  been  fettered  by  a  compact." 

"But  if  I  have  no  secrets,"  said  Kate,  drawing  herself 
up  with  a  proud  disdain,  "  and  if  I  have  no  need  either  of 
the  counsels  or  the  discretion  of  my  waiting-woman  ?  " 

"In  that  ease,"  said  Nina,  quietly,  "Mademoiselle  has 
only  perilled  herself  for  nothing.  The  young  lady  who 
leaves  her  carriage  and  her  maid  to  pass  three  hours  at 
Morlache's,  and  returns  thence,  on  foot,  after  nightfall, 
may  truly  say  she  has  no  secrets,  —  at  least,  so  far  as  the 
city  of  Florence  is  concerned." 

"This  is  insolence  that  you  never  permitted  yourself 
before,"  said  Kate,  passionately. 

"And  yet,  if  I  were  Mademoiselle's  friend  instead  of  her 
servant,  I  should  counsel  her  to  bear  it." 

"But  I  will  not,"  cried  Kate,  indignantly.  "Lady  Hes- 
ter shall  know  of  your  conduct  this  very  instant." 


440  THE  DALTONS. 

"One  moment,  Mademoiselle,  — just  one  moment,"  said 
Nina,  interposing  herself  between  Kate  and  the  door.  "My 
tongue  is  oftentimes  too  ready,  and  I  say  things  for  which 
I  am  deeply  sorry  afterwards.  Forgive  me,  I  beg  and 
beseech  you,  if  I  have  offended ;  reject  my  counsels,  disdain 
my  assistance,  if  you  will,  but  do  not  endanger  yourself  in 
an  instant  of  anger.  If  you  have  but  little  control  over 
your  temper,  I  have  even  less  over  mine ;  pass  out  of  that 
door  as  my  enemy,  and  I  am  yours  to  the  last  hour  of  my 
life." 

There  was  a  strange  and  almost  incongruous  mixture  of 
feeling  in  the  way  she  uttered  these  words ;  at  one  moment 
abject  in  submission,  and  at  the  next  hurling  a  defiance  as 
haughty  as  though  she  were  an  injured  equal.  The  con- 
flict of  the  girl's  passion,  which  first  flushed,  now  left  her 
pale  as  death,  and  trembling  in  every  limb.  Her  emotion 
bespoke  the  most  intense  feeling,  and  Kate  stood  like  one 
spellbound,  before  her.  Her  anger  had  already  passed 
away,  and  she  looked  with  almost  a  sense  of  compassion  at 
the  excited  features  and  heaving  bosom  of  the  Spanish 
girl. 

"You  wrong  yourself  and  me  too,  Nina,"  said  Kate 
Dal  ton,  at  last.  "I  have  every  trust  in  your  fidelity,  but  I 
have  no  occasion  to  test  it." 

"Be  it  so.  Mademoiselle,"  replied  the  other,  with  a 
courtesy. 

"Then  all  is  forgotten,"  said  Kate,  affecting  a  gayety 
she  could  not  feel;  "and  now  let  me  hasten  downstairs,  for 
I  am  already  late." 

"The  Prince  will  have  thought  it  an  hour,  Mademoiselle," 
said  the  girl ;  the  quiet  demureness  of  her  manner  depriv- 
ing the  words  of  any  semblance  of  impertinence.  If  Kate 
looked  gravely,  perhaps  some  little  secret  source  of  pleasure 
lay  hid  within  her  heart;  and  in  the  glance  she  gave  at  her 
glass,  there  was  an  air  of  conscious  triumph  that  did  not 
escape  the  lynx-eyed  Nina. 

"My  Lady  is  waiting  dinner,  Miss  Dalton,"  said  a  ser- 
vant, as  he  tapped  at  the  door;  and  Kate,  with  many  a 
trouble  warring  in  her  breast,  hastened  downstairs,  in  all 
the  pride  of  a  loveliness  that  never  was  more  conspicuous. 


CHAPTER    XXXVII. 

PROPOSALS. 

Kate  found  Lady  Hester,  the  Prince,  and  Mr.  Jekyl  await- 
ing her  as  she  entered  the  drawing-room,  —  all  looking  even 
more  bored  and  out  of  sorts  than  people  usually  do  who  have 
been  kept  waiting  for  their  dinner. 

"Everybody  has  sworn  to  be  as  tiresome  and  disagreeable 
as  possible  to-day,"  said  Lady  Hester.  "George  said  he'd 
dine  here,  and  is  not  coming;  Lord  Norwood  promised,  and 
now  writes  me  word  that  an  unavoidable  delay  detains 
him;  and  here  comes  Miss  Dalton,  —  the  mirror  of  punctu- 
ality when  all  else  are  late,  — a  full  half-hour  after  the  time. 
There,  dear,  no  excuses  nor  explanations  about  all  you 
have  been  doing,  —  the  thousand  calls  you  've  made,  and 
shops  you  've  ransacked.  I  'm  certain  you  've  had  a  miser- 
able day  of  it." 

Kate  blushed  deeply,  and  dreaded  to  meet  Jekyl's  eye; 
but  when  she  did,  that  little  glassy  orb  was  as  blandly 
meaningless  as  any  that  ever  rattled  in  the  head  of  a 
Dutch  doll.  Even  as  he  gave  his  arm  to  lead  her  in  to 
dine,  nothing  in  his  manner  or  look  betrayed  anything  like 
a  secret  understanding  between  them.  A  bystander  might 
have  deemed  him  a  new  acquaintance. 

"Petits  diners"  have,  generally,  the  prerogative  of  agree- 
ability;  they  are  the  chosen  reunions  of  a  few  intimates, 
who  would  not  dilute  their  pleasantry  even  by  a  single  bore. 
They  are  also  the  bright  occasions  for  those  little  culinary 
triumphs  which  never  can  be  attempted  in  a  wider  sphere. 
Epigrams,  whether  of  lamb  or  language,  require  a  select  and 
special  jury  to  try  them ;  but  just  in  the  same  proportion 
as  the  success  of  such  small  parties  is  greater,  so  is  their 
utter   failure,   when   by   any   mischance    there    happens   a 


442  THE  DALTONS. 

breakdown  in  the  good  spirits  or  good  humor  of  the 
company. 

We  have  said  enough  to  show  that  the  ladies,  at  least, 
might  be  excused  for  not  displaying  those  thousand  attrac- 
tions of  conversation  which  all  centre  on  the  one  great 
quality,  —  ease  of  mind.  The  Prince  was  more  than  usual 
out  of  sorts,  —  a  number  of  irritating  circumstances  having 
occurred  to  him  during  the  morning.  A  great  sovereign, 
on  whom  he  had  lavished  the  most  profuse  attentions,  had 
written  him  a  letter  of  thanks,  through  his  private  secre- 
tary, enclosing  a  snuflf-box,  instead  of  sending  him  an 
autograph,  and  the  first  class  of  the  national  order.  His 
glover,  in  Paris,  had  forgotten  to  make  his  right  hand 
larger  than  the  left,  and  a  huge  packet  that  had  just  arrived 
was  consequently  useless.  His  chef  had  eked  out  a  salmi 
of  ortolans  by  a  thrush;  and  it  was  exactly  that  unlucky 
morsel  the  Cardinal  had  helped  himself  to  at  breakfast,  and 
immediately  sent  his  plate  away  in  disappointment.  Rubion, 
too,  his  ninth  secretary,  had  flatly  refused  to  marry  a  little 
danseuse  that  had  just  come  out  in  the  ballet,  —  a  piece  of 
insolence  and  rebellion  on  his  part  not  to  be  tolerated;  and 
when  we  add  to  these  griefs  an  uncomfortable  neckcloth, 
and  the  tidings  of  an  insurrection  in  a  Russian  province 
where  he  owned  immense  property  in  mines,  his  state  of 
irritability  may  be  leniently  considered. 

Jekyl,  if  truth  were  told,  had  as  many  troubles  of  his  own 
to  confront  as  any  of  the  rest.  If  the  ocean  he  sailed  in 
was  not  a  great  Atlantic,  his  bark  was  still  but  a  cockle- 
shell ;  his  course  in  life  required  consummate  skill  and  clev- 
erness, and  yet  never  could  be  safe  even  with  that.  Not- 
withstanding all  this,  he  alone  was  easy,  natural,  and 
agreeable,  —  not  as  many  an  inferior  artist  would  have 
been  agreeable,  by  any  over-eflfort  to  compensate  for  the 
lack  of  co-operation  in  others,  and  thus  make  their  silence 
and  constraint  but  more  palpable,  —  his  pleasantry  was 
tinged  with  the  tone  of  the  company,  and  all  his  little 
smartnesses  were  rather  insinuated  than  spoken.  Quite 
satisfied  if  the  Prince  listened,  or  Lady  Hester  smiled,  — 
more  than  rewarded  when  they  once  both  laughed  at  one  of 
his  sallies,  —  he  rattled  on  about  the  Court  and  the  town 


PROPOSALS.  443 

talk,  the  little  scandals  of  daily  history,  and  the  petty  defec- 
tions of  those  dear  friends  they  nightly  invited  to  their 
houses.  While  thus,  as  it  were,  devoting  himself  to  the 
amusement  of  the  others,  his  real  occupation  was  an  intense 
study  of  their  thoughts,  what  was  uppermost  in  their  minds, 
and  in  what  train  their  speculations  were  following.  He 
had  long  suspected  the  Prince  of  being  attracted  by  Kate 
Dalton;  now  he  was  certain  of  it.  Accustomed  almost 
from  childhood  to  be  flattered  on  every  hand,  and  to  receive 
the  blandest  smiles  of  beauty  everywhere,  Midchekoflf's 
native  distrust  armed  him  strongly  against  such  seductions; 
and  had  Kate  followed  the  path  of  others,  and  exerted  her- 
self to  please  him,  her  failure  would  have  been  certain. 
It  was  her  actual  indifference  —  her  perfect  carelessness  on 
the  subject  —  was  the  charm  to  his  eyes,  and  he  felt  it  quite 
a  new  and  agreeable  sensation  not  to  be  made  love  to. 

Too  proud  of  her  own  Ualton  blood  to  feel  any  elevation 
by  the  marked  notice  of  the  great  Russian,  she  merely 
accorded  him  so  much  of  her  favor  as  his  personal  agree- 
ability  seemed  to  warrant;  perhaps  no  designed  flattery 
could  have  been  so  successful.  Another  feeling,  also, 
enhanced  his  admiration  of  her.  It  was  a  part  of  that 
barbaric  instinct  which  seemed  to  sway  all  his  actions,  to 
desire  the  possession  of  whatever  was  unique  in  life. 
Those  forms  or  fancies  of  which  nature  stamps  but  one,  and 
breaks  the  die,  —  these  were  a  passion  with  him.  To 
possess  a  bluer  turquoise  than  any  king  or  kaiser,  to  own 
an  arab  of  some  color  never  seen  before,  to  have  a  picture 
by  some  artist  who  never  painted  but  one;  but  whether  it 
were  a  gem,  a  vase,  a  weapon,  a  diamond,  or  a  dog,  its 
value  had  but  one  test,  —  that  it  had  none  its  exact  equal. 
Now,  Kate  Dalton  realized  these  conditions  more  than  any 
one  he  had  ever  met.  Her  very  beauty  was  peculiar;  com- 
bining, with  much  of  feminine  softness  and  delicacy,  a 
degree  of  determination  and  vigor  of  character  that  to 
Midchekoff  smacked  of  queenly  domination.  There  was 
a  species  of  fierte  about  her  that  distinguished  her  among 
other  women.  All  that  he  had  seen  done  by  an  illustrious 
title  and  a  diamond  tiara,  she  seemed  capable  of  effect- 
ing  in  the  simplest  costume  and  without   an   effort.     All 


444  THE  DALTONS. 

these  were  wonderful  attractions  to  his  eyes;  and  if  he 
did  not  fall  in  love,  it  was  simply  because  he  did  not  know 
how.  He,  however,  did  what  to  him  served  as  substitute 
for  the  passion;  he  coveted  an  object  which  should  form 
one  of  the  greatest  rarities  of  his  collection,  and  the 
possession  of  which  would  give  him  another  title  to  that 
envy,  —  the  most  delicious  tribute  the  world  could  render 
him. 

There  were  some  drawbacks  to  his  admiration ;  her  birth 
was  not  sufficiently  illustrious.  His  own  origin  was  too 
recent  to  make  an  alliance  of  this  kind  desirable,  and  he 
wished  that  she  had  been  a  princess;  even  de  la  main 
gauche  of  some  royal  house.  Jekyl  had  done  his  best, 
by  sundry  allusions  to  Irish  greatness,  and  the  blood  of 
various  monarchs  of  Munster  and  Connaught,  in  times 
past;  but  the  Prince  was  incredulous  as  to  Hibernian 
greatness;  probably  the  remembrance  of  an  Irish  diamond 
once  offered  him  for  sale  had  tinged  his  mind  with  this 
sense  of  disparagement  as  to  all  Irish  magnificence.  Still 
Kate  rose  above  every  detracting  influence,  and  he  thought 
of  the  pride  in  which  he  should  parade  her  through  Europe 
as  his  own. 

Had  she  been  a  barb  or  a  bracelet,  an  antique  cup  or  a 
Sevres  jar,  he  never  would  have  hesitated  about  the  acquisi- 
tion. Marriage,  however,  was  a  more  solemn  engagement; 
and  he  did  not  quite  fancy  any  purchase  that  cost  more 
than  mere  money.  Nothing  but  the  possibility  of  losing 
her  altogether  could  have  overcome  this  cautious  scruple; 
and  Jekyl  had  artfully  insinuated  such  a  conjuncture. 
"George  Onslow's  attentions  were,"  he  said,  "quite  pal- 
pable; and  although  up  to  this  Miss  Dalton  did  not  seem 
to  give  encouragement,  who  could  tell  what  time  and  daily 
intercourse  might  effect?  There  was  Norwood,  too,  with 
the  rank  of  peeress  in  his  gift;  there  was  no  saying  how 
an  ambitious  girl  might  be  tainted  by  that  bait."  In  fact, 
the  Prince  had  no  time  to  lose ;  and,  although  nothing  less 
accorded  with  his  tastes  than  what  imposed  haste,  he  was 
obliged  to  bestir  himself  on  this  occasion. 

If  we  have  dwelt  thus  long  upon  the  secret  thoughts  of 
the   company,    it   is   because   their   conversation   was   too 


PROPOSALS.  445 

broken  and  unconnected  for  recording.  They  talked  little, 
and  that  little  was  discursive.  An  occasional  allusion  to 
some  social  topic,  a  chance  mention  of  their  approaching 
departure  from  Florence,  some  reference  to  Como  and  its 
scenery,  formed  the  whole;  and  then,  in  spite  of  Jekyl, 
whose  functions  of  "fly-wheel"  could  not  keep  the  machine 
a-moving,  long  pauses  would  intervene,  and  each  lapse 
into  a  silence  apparently  more  congenial  than  conversa- 
tion. All  this  while  Jekyl  seemed  to  be  reading  the  com- 
plex scheme  of  doubt,  irresolution,  and  determination  that 
filled  Midchekoff's  mind.  The  stealthy  glances  of  the 
Russian's  eyes  towards  Kate,  the  almost  painful  anxiety 
of  his  manner,  to  see  if  she  noticed  him  while  speaking,  his 
watchful  observance  of  her  in  her  every  accent  and  gesture, 
told  Jekyl  the  struggle  that  was  then  passing  within  him. 
He  had  seen  each  of  these  symptoms  before,  though  in  a 
less  degree,  when  the  coveted  object  was  a  horse  or  a  pic- 
ture; and  he  well  knew  how  nothing  but  the  dread  of  a 
competition  for  the  prize  would  rouse  him  from  this  state 
of  doubt  and  uncertainty. 

The  evening  dragged  slowly  over,  and  it  was  now  late, 
when  Lord  Norwood  made  his  appearance.  With  a  brief 
apology  for  not  coming  to  dinner,  he  drew  .Tekyl  to  one 
siile,  and,  slipping  an  arm  within  his,  led  him  into  an 
adjoining  room. 

"I  say,  Jekyl,"  whispered  he,  as  they  retired  out  of  ear- 
shot of  the  others,  "here's  a  pretty  mess  Onslow's  got  in. 
There  has  been  a  fracas  in  the  street  about  Miss  Dalton. 
How  she  came  there  at  such  a  time,  and  alone,  is  another 
matter;  and  George  has  struck  Guilmard, — knocked  him 
down,  by  Jove!  and  no  mistake;  and  they're  to  meet  to- 
morrow morning.  Of  course,  there  was  nothing  else  for  it ; 
a  blow  has  but  one  reparation,  —  George  will  have  to  stand 
the  fire  of  the  first  shot  in  Europe." 

Jekyl  hated  a  duel.  Had  he  been  a  member  of  the  Peace 
Congress,  he  could  not  have  detested  the  arbitrament  of 
arms  more  heartily.  It  involved  partisanship,  it  severed 
intimacies,  it  barred  general  intercourse,  and  often  closed 
up  for  a  whole  season  the  pleasantest  houses  of  a  town. 
The  announcement  of  a  strict  blockade  never  struck  a  mer- 


446  THE   DALTONS. 

cantile  community  with  more  terror.  To  Norwood  the 
prospect  was  directly  the  opposite.  Not  only  an  adept  in 
all  the  etiquette  and  ceremonial  of  such  meetings,  he  liked 
to  see  his  name  circulated  in  these  afifairs  as  a  kind  of  guar- 
antee of  his  readiness  to  seek  a  similar  reparation  for  injury. 
He  had  trusted  for  many  a  year  on  his  dexterity  at  twelve 
paces,  and  he  never  missed  an  opportunity  of  sustaining  the 
prestige  of  a  "  dead  shot." 

It  was,  then,  with  an  ardor  of  amateurship  that  he  nar- 
rated the  various  little  preliminary  steps  which  had  already 
been  taken.  Merkheim,  the  Austrian  secretary,  had  called 
on  him,  on  the  part  of  Guilmard ;  and  as,  in  a  case  so  clear, 
there  was  little  to  arrange,  the  only  difficulty  lay  in  the 
choice  of   weapons. 

"  The  Frenchman  claims  the  sword,"  said  Norwood ; 
"  and  it  is  always  awkward  to  decline  that  proposition  for 
a  soldier.  But  I  suppose  George  has  about  as  much  chance 
with  one  weapon  as  the  other." 

"  You  think  he  '11  kill  him,  my  Lord  ?  " 

"  I  think  so.  If  the  offence  had  been  less  flagrant  or  less 
public,  possibly  not.  But  a  blow !  to  be  struck  down  in  the 
open  street!     I  don't  see  how  he  can  do  less." 

"  What  a  break-up  it  will  cause  here !  "  said  Jekyl,  with  a 
nod  of  his  head  in  the  direction  of  the  drawing-room. 

"  It  will  send  them  all  back  to  England,  I  suppose." 

"  I  suppose  it  will,"  added  Jekyl,  mournfully. 

"What  a  bore!  It's  particularly  unpleasant  for  me,  for 
I  hold  some  half-dozen  of  George's  acceptances,  not  due 
yet;  and,  of  course,  the  governor  will  never  think  of  ac- 
quitting them." 

"  I  conclude  it  is  inevitable  —  the  meeting,  I  mean?  "  said 
Jekyl. 

"To  be  sure  it  is.  Onslow  took  care  of  that!  By  the 
way,  Jekyl,  how  came  she  there  at  such  an  hour,  and  alone, 
too?" 

"She  had  been  shopping,  I  fancy,  and  missed  the  car- 
riage. There  was  some  blunder,  I  have  heard,  about  the 
coachman  drawing  up  at  the  wrong  door." 

"  No  go.  Master  Jekyl.  Don't  try  it  on  with  me,  old 
fellow.     You  know  all  about  it,  if  you  like  to  tell." 


PROPOSALS.  447 

"  I  assure  you,  my  Lord,  you  give  me  a  credit  I  don't 
deserve." 

"  You  know  the  whole  story  from  beginning  to  end, 
Jekyl.     I  'd  back  you  against  the  field,  my  boy." 

The  other  shook  his  head  with  an  air  of  supreme  innocence. 

"  Then  George  knows  it?"  added  Norwood,  half  assert- 
ing, half  asking  the  question. 

'•  He  may,  my  Lord,  for  aught  I  can  tell." 

"If  so,  he's  treating  me  unfairly,"  said  Norwood,  rising 
and  pacing  the  room.  "As  his  friend  m  this  affair,  there 
should  be  no  reserve  or  concealment  with  me.  You  can 
surely  say  that  much,  Jekyl,  eh?  What  a  close  fellow  you 
are !  " 

"  It  is  so  easy  not  to  blab  when  one  has  nothing  to  tell," 
said  Jekyl,  smiling. 

"  Come,  thei-e  is  something  you  can  tell  me.  Where  does 
that  small  corridor  behind  George's  apartment  lead  to? 
There  is  a  door  at  the  end  of  it,  and,  1  fancy,  a  stair  be- 
yond it." 

"  That,  if  I  mistake  not,  leads  up  to  Lady  Hester —  No, 
I  remember  now ;  it  leads  to  Miss  Dalton's  room." 

"  Just  so;   I  could  have  sworn  it." 

"Why  so,  my  Lord?'*  asked  Jekyl,  whose  curiosity  was 
now  excited  to  the  utmost. 

"That 's  mj/  secret.  Master  Jekyl." 

"  But  the  door  is  always  locked  and  bolted  from  within," 
said  Jekyl,  "  and  there  is  no  keyhole  on  the  outside." 

"  I'll  not  stand  pumping,  Jekyl.  If  you  had  been  frank 
with  me,  perhaps  I  should  have  been  as  open  with  //ou/' 

For  an  instant  Jekyl  hesitated  what  course  to  follow.  It 
might  be  that  Norwood  really  knew  something  of  great  im- 
portance. It  might  be  that  his  discovery  was  valueless. 
And  yet,  if  it  concerned  Kate  in  any  way,  the  information 
would  be  all-important,  his  great  game  being  to  make  her 
a  princess,  and  yet  preserve  such  an  ascendancy  over  her  as 
would  render  her  his  own  slave. 

"  She's  a  strange  girl,  that  Dalton,"  said  Norwood.  "  I 
wish  she  had  about  forty  thousand  pounds." 

"  She  may  have  more  than  that  yet,  my  Lord,"  said 
Jekyl,  dryly. 


448  THE  DALTONS. 

"How  do  you  mean,  Jekyl?  Is  there  any  truth  in 
that  story  about  the  Irish  property?  Has  she  really  a  claim 
on  the  estate  ?  Tell  me  all  you  know,  old  fellow,  and  I  '11 
be  on  the  square  with  you  throughout." 

Jekyl,  who  in  his  remark  had  darkly  alluded  to  the  pros- 
pect of  Kate's  marriage  with  Midchekofif,  now  saw  that 
Norwood  had  totally  misconceived  his  meaning,  and  like  a 
shrewd  tactician,  determined  to  profit  by  the  blunder. 

"  Come,  Jekyl,  be  frank  and  aboveboard.  What  are  her 
prospects  ?  " 

"Better  than  I  have  told  you,  my  Lord,"  replied  he, 
coolly.  "If  I  cannot — for  I  am  not  at  liberty  to  explain 
why  —  I  am  quite  ready  to  pledge  my  word  of  honor  to 
the  truth  of  what  I  say,  or,  what  your  Lordship  will  think 
more  of,  to  back  my  opinion  by  a  bet." 

"By  Jove!  that  is  news!"  said  the  Viscount,  leaning 
his  head  on  the  chimney  to  reflect.  "You  are  such  a 
slippery  dog.  Master  Jekyl,  you  have  so  many  turnings 
and  windings  in  you,  one  is  never  quite  sure  with  you ;  but 
supposing  now,  for  argument's  sake,  that  one  thought  of 
making  this  fair  damsel  a  peeress,  is  there  no  hitch  in  the 
affair  —  no  screw  loose  that  one  ought  to  look  to?" 

"  In  her  birth,  my  Lord?" 

"  No ;  d — n  her  birth !     I  mean  about  the  tin." 

"I  believe,  my  Lord,  that  I  can  save  you  all  speculation 
on  the  subject  when  I  say  that  pursuit  would  be  hopeless 
there.  The  Midchekoff  has  gained  the  start,  and  must  win 
in  a  canter." 

"That  Tartar  fellow!  nonsense,  man;  I  know  better 
than  that.  He  '11  never  marry  anything  under  royalty ; 
the  fellow's  mother  was  a  serf,  and  he  must  wash  that  spot 
out  of  his  blood  whenever  he  can." 

"  You  are  mistaken,  my  Lord.  He  only  waits  to  be 
certain  of  being  accepted,  to  offer  himself." 

"Refuse  him!"  said  Norwood,  laughing,  "there's  not 
that  girl  in  Europe  would  refuse  him.  If  every  decoration 
he  wore  on  his  breast  were  a  stripe  of  the  knout  upon  his 
back,  his  wealth  would  cover  all." 

"  The  Prince  would  give  half  his  fortune  to  be  assured  of 
all  you  say,  my  Lord,"  said  Jekyl,  gravely. 


PROPOSALS.  449 

"  By  Jove  !  one  might  make  a  good  thing  of  it,  even  that 
way,"  said  Norwood,  half  aloud.  "  1  say,  Jekyl,"  added  he, 
louder,  "how  much  are  you  to  have?  —  nay,  nay,  man, 
there 's  no  impertinence  in  the  question,  we  are  both  too 
much  men  of  the  world  for  that.  It 's  quite  clear  that  this 
is  your  scheme.     Now,  what 's  the  damage  ?  " 

"  My  Lord,  you  are  as  flattering  to  my  abilities  as  unjust 
to  my  character." 

"  We  '11  suppose  all  that  said,"  broke  in  Norwood,  impa- 
tiently;  "  and  now  we  come  back  to  the  original  question, 
—  whether  I  cannot  afford  to  be  as  liberal  as  the  Russian. 
Only  be  explicit,  and  let  us  understand  each  other." 

"  My  Lord,  I  will  not  insult  myself  by  believing  I  compre- 
hend youi"  said  Jekyl,  calmly. 

And  before  Norwood  could  detain  him  he  left  the  room. 

"Jekyl,  come  back,  man!  just  hear  me  out  —  you've 
mistaken  me !  Confound  the  cur,"  muttered  the  Viscount, 
"  with  his  hypocritical  affectation  —  as  if  I  did  not  know  his 
metier  as  well  as  I  know  my  bootmaker's." 

Norwood  walked  noiselessly  to  the  door  of  the  salon  and 
peeped  in.  Lady  Hester,  the  Prince,  and  Jekyl  were  in 
earnest  conversation  in  one  quarter ;  while  Kate  sat  apart, 
apparently  engaged  with  her  embroidery-frame,  but  in 
reality  too  deeply  sunk  in  thought  to  notice  the  bright  tints 
before  her.  Norwood  entered  listlessly,  and  strolling  across 
the  room,  took  a  place  beside  her.  She  moved  slightly  as  he 
drew  forward  his  chair,  and,  then,  as  she  drew  back  her 
flounce,  Norwood  saw  that  it  was  of  deep  black  lace.  He 
coolly  took  out  his  pocket-book  wherein  he  had  deposited 
the  torn  fragment,  and,  regarding  it  with  attention,  saw  that 
it  perfectly  corresponded  with  the  dress.  So  leisurely  and 
with  such  circumspection  did  he  proceed  that  several 
minutes  elapsed  before  he  looked  up. 

"You  are  meditative,  my  Lord,  to-night,  "said  Kate,  at 
last,  making  an  effort  to  relieve  an  awkward  situation; 
"what  are  you  thinking  of,  pray?" 

"Admiring  your  dress.  Miss  Dalton,  which  strikes  me 
as  singularly  beautiful  and  becoming." 

"Great  praise  this,  from  such  an  acknowledged  judge  as 
Lord  Norwood,"  said  she,  smiling. 
VOL.  I.  —  29 


450  THE  DALTONS. 

"  I  prefer  it  to  antique  lace,  which  in  general  is  too  heavy 
and  cumbrous  for  my  taste ;  I  like  these  fine  and  delicate 
tissues,  so  frail  and  gossamer-like,  —  not  but  their  frailty, 
like  all  other  frailty,  incurs  occasionally  a  heavy  penalty; 
as  here,  for  instance,  you  see  this  has  been  torn." 

"So  it  has,"  said  Kate,  with  confusion,  "and  I  never 
noticed  it.     What  a  quick  eye  you  must  have,  my  Lord !  " 

"And  a  sharp  ear,  too,  Miss  Dalton,"  said  he,  signifi- 
cantly ;  "in  fact,  I  am  one  of  those  people  whose  every-day 
faculties  do  duty  for  what  in  others  goes  by  the  name  of 
cleverness.  It 's  a  great  pity,"  said  he,  looking  down  at  the 
dress ;   "  you  see.  Miss  Dalton,  what  a  false  step  can  do." 

"And  yet  I  cannot  remember  when  this  occurred,"  said 
she,  assuming  to  misunderstand  his  equivocal  expression. 

"Not  recall  it,  — not  a  clew  to  the  mishap?"  asked  he, 
shrewdly. 

"None,"  said  she,  blushing  at  the  pertinacity  with  which 
he  clung  to  the  theme ;   "  but  it's  of  no  consequence." 

' '  Would  Miss  Dalton  think  it  very  singular  if  I  should  be 
able  to  assist  her  memory?  Would  she  accept  the  service 
as  kindly  as  it  was  proffered,  too?" 

"Really,  my  Lord,  you  begin  to  speak  in  riddles,"  said 
she,  more  than  ever  piqued  at  his  persistence. 

"And  yet,"  said  he,  following  out  the  thread  of  his  own 
thoughts,  "I  am  assuredly  as  safe  a  counsellor  as  Albert 
Jekyl." 

Kate  grew  deadly  pale,  but  never  replied  to  this  speech. 

"And  certainly,"  resumed  he,  "the  man  who  speaks  in 
his  own  name  should  ever  take  precedence  of  an  envoy." 

"  My  Lord,"  said  she,  firmly,  "  the  very  little  which  I  can 
understand  of  your  words  implies  a  pretension  to  knowledge 
and  influence  over  me  which  I  disdain  to  accept ;  but  still  I 
cannot  believe  that  you  seriously  mean  to  insult  me." 

"Of  course  not,"  said  he;  "I  have  come  on  a  very 
different  errand.  If  I  did  passingly  allude  to  bygones,  it 
was  to  show  you  that  you  can  afford  to  be  candid  when  I 
am  frank.  We  two,  united,  would  walk  over  the  course, 
and  no  mistake,  —  that 's  what  I  was  coming  to.  I  don't 
mean  to  say  that  the  Russian  is  not  richer  —  egad !  there  's 
no   disputing   that,  —  still,    as   to   rank,    a   peer   of    Great 


PROPOSALS. 


451 


Britain,  I  take  it,  is  the  equal  of  any  man.  Not  to  remind 
you  of  tiie  old  adage  about  '  a  bird  in  the  hand '  —  I  speak 
frankly,  because  you  are  your  own  mistress." 

"  Kate,  if  Lord  Norwood  will  excuse  you,  come  to  me  for 
one  instant,"  cried  Lady  Hester. 

"Just  say  yes,  before  you  go, — or,  if  not  yes,  tell  me 


that  I  have  ground  for  hope,"  whispered  Norwood.  But 
she  arose  without  speaking. 

"I'll  not  stand  a  'hedge,'  by  Jove!"  said  Norwood, 
sulkily ;   "  play  or  pay,  —  nothing  else  for  me." 

"  Allow  me  to  pass  you,  my  Lord,"  said  Kate,  courteously. 

"  One  word,  — ofiF  or  on, —  Miss  Dalton,"  said  he,  rising, 
and  affecting  to  make  way,  while  he  still  bai-red  the  passage. 
A  proud,  disdainful  smile  was  all  the  reply  she  vouchsafed. 

"All  right,"  said  he,  insolently;   "only  remember  how 


452  THE  DALTONS. 

we  stand,  Miss  Dalton,  and  whenever  you  want  to  repair 
the  mischance  of  your  lace  flounce,  don't  forget  the  piece 
is  in  my  keeping ; "  and  he  opened  the  pocket-book  as  he 
spoke,  and  exhibited  the  fragment  before  her.  Sick  with 
a  terror  she  could  neither  explain  nor  realize,  she  lay  back 
again  in  her  chair,  unable  to  moye,  while  Norwood  glided 
quietly  away  and  left  the  room. 

' '  Dear  Kate,  have  you  forgotten  me  all  this  time  ?  "  said 
Lady  Hester,  whom  Kate  now  perceived  was  alone  on  the 
sofa,  Midchekoff  and  Jekyl  having  retired  into  an  adjoining 
gallery,  where  they  walked  slowly  along,  side  by  side,  deep 
in  conversation. 

"You  shouldn't  have  suffered  Norwood  to  engross  your 
attention  in  that  manner,  my  dear.  The  Prince  has  been 
quite  put  out  by  it,  and  at  such  a  moment,  too,  —  and  how 
flushed  you  are !     What  has  he  been  saying  ?  " 

"I  can  scarcely  remember,"  said  Kate,  confusedly. 

"Well,  it's  of  no  consequence,  dear,  because  I  have  got 
something  to  tell  you  that  would  speedily  make  you  forget 
it.  You  know,  Kate,  how  I  always  prophesied  wonderful 
things  for  you,  just  as  I  did  before  for  poor  Georgina 
Elderton,  and  she  married  a  Rajah  afterwards,  and  died 
Begum  of  something  ending  in  '  Bad.'  Indeed,  I  might 
say  it  ended  in  bad  for  herself,  poor  dear,  for  I  believe 
she  was  x>oisoned.  But,  to  come  back,  I  always  said  that 
you  also  would  have  astonishing  luck.  I  told  Sir  Stafford 
so.  The  first  day  I  saw  you,  '  She  '11  be  like  Georgina,'  I 
said.  '  You  '11  see  that  girl  in  a  wonderful  position  one  of 
these  days.'  It  is  not  that  men  care  for  their  wives  more 
than  formerly,  —  I  rather  fancy  the  reverse,  —  but  they  have 
got  a  most  intense  passion  just  now  for  beauty.  Wealth 
and  good  blood  were  once  the  only  requisites,  but  they 
are  both  disregarded  now,  in  comparison  with  good  looks. 
I  suppose  the  fashion  won't  last,  —  it  would  be  very  absurd 
if  it  should,  —  but  while  it  is  the  mode  one  ought  to  profit 
by  it.  Just  as  I  am  wearing  all  those  horrid  old  brocades 
of  my  great-grand-aunt's,  with  odious  flowers  of  crimson 
and  yellow,  now  that  the  taste  in  dress  is  '  rococo,'  but  of 
course  in  a  year  or  two  people  will  recover  their  senses 
again,   and   pretty  girls   without  portions  be  left   for  sub- 


PROPOSALS.  453 

alterns  in  the  line,  as  Providence  intended  they  should. 
Don't  you  think  so,  dear?" 

The  brief  question  at  the  end  of  this  long  rambling  speech 
would  possibly  have  puzzled  Kate  to  reply  to,  had  not  Lady 
Hester  been  far  too  much  occupied  in  her  own  speculations 
to  care  for  a  rejoinder. 

"You'll  hear  people  talk  a  deal  of  nonsense  about  un- 
equal marriages,  and  they'll  quote  Heaven  knows  what 
instances  of  girls,  generally  Irish  ones,  picking  up  princes 
and  royal  dukes,  and  all  ending  unhappily.  Don't  believe 
a  word  of  it,  dearest ;  there 's  never  misery  where  there 's 
large  fortune.  The  people  who  cry  in  velvet  always  shed 
rose-water  tears,  that  don't  hurt  the  skin  or  spoil  the  com- 
plexion. Not  that  I  can  say  so  of  myself,"  added  she^ 
with  a  deep  sigh;  "  but  I  am  a  creature  apart.  I  fervently 
trust  nature  does  not  often  form  similar  ones.  Buccellini 
told  me  that  I  had  a  fifth  pair  of  nerves,  —  I  assure  you  he 
did.  It  was  a  very  shocking  thing,  and  probably  he  ought 
never  to  have  mentioned  it  to  me ;  but  it  perfectly  explains 
the  excessive  sensibility  of  my  whole  nature,  —  does  n't 
it,  dear?" 

Kate  smiled  assent,  and  Lady  Hester  went  on :  — 

"Then,  as  to  religion,  my  dear,  I'm  afraid,  indeed,  we 
all  think  too  little  about  it.  I  'm  sure  I  'm  quite  shocked 
at  what  I  see  in  society.  It  was  only  the  other  night  Lady 
Grace  Morton  kept  her  seat  when  the  Cardinal  was  speak- 
ing to  her.  I  apologized  to  him  for  it  afterwards,  and  he 
said,  with  such  a  sweet  smile,  '  If  these  Protestants  would 
only  give  us  back  our  churches,  we  'd  forgive  their  keep- 
ing their  chairs.'  "The  mot  was  very  pretty,  in  French, 
and  well  turned  —  was  n't  it?  Of  course,  then,  you  '11  make 
no  obstacle  about  the  Greek  Church,  which  I  believe  is 
exactly  like  your  own,  only  that  the  priest  has  a  beard, 
which  I  think  more  becoming.  It  looks  affectionate,  too ; 
it  always  gives  one  the  idea  of  devotion,  a  girl  changing 
her  faith  for  her  husband ;  and  really,  in  this  tiresome  age 
we  live  in,  a  new  religion  is  the  only  new  thing  one  ever 
hears  of.  Your  excellent  family  —  that  sweet  sister  and 
the  dear  old  papa  —  will  probably  make  a  fuss  about  it ; 
but  you  know,  after  all,  how  absurd  that  is,  and  if  you  were 


454  THE  DALTONS. 

to  marry  a  Chinese,  there  's  no  saying  what  strange  crea- 
tures you  'd  have  to  pray  to.  You  '11  have  to  go  to  Rus- 
sia, but  only  for  presentation;  that  over,  the  Prince  will 
obtain  a  renewal  of  his  permission  to  reside  abroad ;  still, 
if  you  have  to  pass  a  winter  at  St.  Petersburg,  it  will  be 
far  from  disagreeable.  The  women  are  too  fond  of  cavi- 
are and  high  play ;  but  they  dress  just  as  well  as  in  Paris, 
and  wear  better  diamonds.  Midchekoff's  jewels  are  un- 
equalled ;  and,  now  that  I  think  of  it,  there 's  one  thing 
I  've  set  my  heart  on,  and  you  must  positively  promise  to 
give  me,  —  a  little  stiletto  with  an  emerald  hilt  and  handle. 
I  have  pined  for  it  —  there 's  no  other  word  —  these  three 
years.  He  wore  it  in  London,  and  1  have  never  had  it 
out  of  my  thoughts  since.  You  can  afford  to  be  very  gen- 
erous, dearest.  How  I  envy  you  that  pleasure !  and  the 
delight  you  '11  feel  in  providing  for  poor  papa  and  Mary  — 
no,  Elizabeth,  I  mean  —  how  absurd !  I  should  say  Ellen. 
It  was  something  about  that  tale  of  Elizabeth,  the  Exile 
of  Siberia,  was  running  in  my  mind.  The  Prince  will  do 
whatever  you  suggest,  and,  indeed,  he  has  already  hinted 
about  your  brother  Frank  joining  the  Russian  service. 
He  '11  have  him  named  an  officer  in  the  Emperor's  Guard. 
You  must  insist,  too,  upon  La  Rocca  being  your  own  — 
settled  upon  yourself.  They  tell  me  it 's  the  sweetest  spot 
in  the  world;  and  I'll  always  live  there  when  you  don't 
want  it.  I  mention  this  about  the  settlement,  because 
there 's  no  saying  how  men  will  behave.  I  'm  sure  I  never 
could  have  anticipated  such  a  return  as  I  have  met  with 
from  Sir  Stafford.  And  then,  you  know,  with  a  Russian, 
one  cannot  be  too  guarded.  Don't  you  agree  with  me? 
Well,  never  mind,  you  'II  perhaps  come  round  to  my  opinion 
later.  But  here  comes  the  Prince,  and  it  will  be  as  well 
you  should  retire,  dearest.  I'll  see  you  in  your  dressing- 
room,  and  tell  you  everything." 

And  with  this  assurance  Kate  retired,  with  a  head  and 
heart  as  full  as  ever  young  lady's  felt. 

Kate  was  hastening  to  her  room,  when  a  short,  quick 
step  behind  her  made  her  turn  round,  and  she  saw  Purvis 
endeavoring  to  overtake  her. 

"Oh!  I  have  you  at  last,"  said  he,  puffing  for  breath; 


PROPOSALS.  455 

*' and  what  a  ch-chase  I've  had  for  it!  I've  been  in  five 
rooms  already,  and  nearly  had  a  f-f-fight  with  that  French- 
woman of  Lady  Hester's.  She  'a  a  regular  T-T-Tartar,  she 
is,  and  almost  boxed  my  ears  for  looking  into  a  small  case 
where  my  Lady's  r-ringlets  are  kept  —  ha !  ha !  ha !  I  saw 
them,  though,  —  two  long  and  two  short,  and  a  pl-pl-plait  for 
the  back  of  the  head.     How  she  m-m-makes  up  at  night !  " 

' '  I  must  say  that  you  have  the  strangest  mode  of  requit- 
ing hospitalitj',"  said  Kate,  haughtily. 

"It's  all  very  well  to  talk  of  hospi-hospi-hospi —  "  Here 
a  fit  of  gaping  brought  on  coughing,  which,  after  a  violent 
struggle,  ended  in  the  forced  utterance  of  the  last  syllable 
of  the  word,  but  with  such  fatigue  and  exhaustion  that  he 
seemed  scarcely  able  to  continue ;  at  last,  however,  he  did 
resume.  "  It's  all  very  well  to  talk  of  that,  but  we  got  in 
here  by  our  own  cl-cl-cleverness ;  at  least  by  Zoe's." 
•  "  Less  good-natured  persons  would  find  another  word  for 
it,  Mr.  Purvis." 

"  So  they  would.  Haggerstone  called  it  a  Ricketty  strat- 
agem. No  matter ;  we  're  in  —  ha !  ha !  ha !  —  and  he 's 
out.     The  pr-pr-proof  of  the  pu-pu-pudding  —  " 

"  Will  you  excuse  me,  sir,  if  I  say  I  must  leave  you?  " 

"  Don't  go,  don't  go;  I've  something  very  important  to 

—  to  tell  you.  And  first,  Zoe  —  my  sister  Zoe  —  wants  to 
see  you.  The  cook  has  been  most  im-im-impertinent  to  her. 
She  says  it  was  ginger  she  put  in  the  maea-maca-roni, 
instead  of  P-P-Parmesan  ;  all  his  truffles  are  only  Piedmon- 
tese.  That  is  n't  all :  don't  be  in  such  a  h-hurry.  They  've 
changed  the  wine,  too.  We  had  Ch-Ch-Chambertin  yester- 
day, and  they  've  given  us  P-Pomard  to-day.  How  is  that 
to  be  borne?" 

"I  really  see  but  one  remedy  for  it,  sir,"  said  Kate, 
scornfully. 

"  So  Zoe  said ;  that 's  exactly  her  opinion.  They  must  be 
sent  away.     Zoe  knows  a  very  ti-ti-tidy  cook.     He  's  not  a 

—  a  —  top-sawyer,  you  know,  but  he  can  r-roast  a  bit  of 
beef,  and  make  a  c-capital  rice-pudding,  and  he  '11  come  for 
six  dollars  a  month.  Wouldn't  that  be  a  sa-saving?  Zoe 
told  him  to  c-call  to-day,  and  speak  to  La-Lady  Hester." 

"He  will  find  that  difficult,  sir,"  said  Kate,  dryly. 


466  THE  DALTONS. 

"And  as  for  the  b- butler,  such  a  j-j- jackanapes  I  never 
saw ;  and  Zoe  would  advise  you  to  take  little  Pierretto,  — 
the  fellow  you  see  every  day  at  the  Pergola;  he  sells  the 
tickets  outside  the  door.  He  looks  r-r-ragged  enough  now, 
but  when  he  's  dressed  —  " 

"  You  must  see,  sir,"  interposed  Kate,  "  that  these  are  all 
details  in  which  it  would  be  both  indelicate  and  impertinent 
for  me  to  intrude  an  opinion  about." 

"Not  when  you  li-live  in  the  house;  not  when  you're 
dome-dome-domesticated  with  the  family.  We  're  all  in  the 
same  bo-boat  now ;  and  Zoe  says  somebody  must  steer  it. 
Now  Lizetta,  Zoe's  maid,  would  keep  the  k-keys  herself." 

"  Pray  remember,  sir,  this  is  Lady  Hester  Onslow's 
house." 

"Egad!  it  w- won't  be  long  so,  if  she  goes  on  as  she's 
d-doing.  Martha  saw  the  meat-cart  come  in  this  morning, 
and  I  had  a  p-p-peep  into  the  servants'  hall  when  the 
fl-flunkeys  were  feeding,  and  such  w-w-waste,  such  re- 
reckless  —  " 

"Good-evening,  Mr.  Purvis;  I  cannot  stay  longer,"  said 
Kate.  And,  before  he  could  interpose  a  word,  she  hastened 
from  the  spot,  and,  passing  rapidly  up  the  stairs,  gained  her 
own  room,  leaving  Purvis  to  bethink  him  over  the  mass  of 
things  he  had  not  touched  upon,  and  on  which  he  had  mainly 
intended  to  debate. 


CHAFfER  XXXVUI. 


AN    ARRIVAL. 


Let  us  go  back  a  few  hours  in  our  history,  and  follow  the 
short  and  burly  figure  which,  emerging  from  the  travelling- 
carriage  in  the  courtyard  of  the  palace,  pushed  his  way 
through  the  noisy  throng  of  duns,  and  entered  the  house. 

"  How  are  you.  Proctor  —  how  is  your  master?  "  said  he, 
as  he  threw  off  his  great-coat,  and  unrolled  a  capacious 
muffler  from  his  throat.     "  How  is  Sir  Stafford?" 

"Oh,  Dr.  Grounsell,  glad  you've  come,  sir.  It  will  be  a 
real  pleasure  to  my  master  to  see  you  again,  sir." 

"  How  is  he,  man,  —  how  's  the  gout?  " 

"Poorly,  —  very  poorly,  sir.  Things  have  gone  badly 
here,  doctor,  since  you  left  us,"  said  he,  with  a  sigh. 

"Yes,  yes;  I  know  it  all;  I  have  heard  all  about  that. 
But  his  health —  tell  me  of  his  health." 

"  Greatly  broken,  sir.  No  sleep  o'  nights  without  opium, 
and  no  real  rest  even  with  that." 

"And  his  spirits?  " 

"Broken  too,  sir.  He's  not  what  you  remember  him, 
sir,  nor  anything  like  it.  No  pleasant  joke,  sir,  when  any- 
thing goes  amiss,  as  it  used  to  be ;  no  turning  it  off  with  a 
merry  laugh !  He 's  fretful  and  impatient  about  the  merest 
trifles,  and  he  that  never  wanted  attendance  is  now  always 
complaining  that  he 's  neglected,  and  deserted  and  forsaken 
by  all  the  world." 

"  Does  the  Captain  come  often  to  see  and  sit  with  him?" 

"Every  day,  sir;  but  these  visits  do  rather  harm  than 
good.  Sir  Stafford  is  vexed  at  what  goes  on  in  the  house ; 
and  Master  George  —  I  don't  know  how  it  is  —  but  he  don't 
calm  him  down,  and  they  have  oftentimes  angry  words 
together;  not  but  my  master  is   frequently  in  the  wrong, 


458  THE   DALTONS. 

and  taxes  the  young  gentleman  with  what  he  can't  help ;  for 
you  see,  sir,  my  Lady  —  " 

"D — n !     I  mean,  tell  me  about  Sir  Stafford;  it  is 

of  him  1  want  to  hear.     Does  he  read?" 

"  He  makes  me  read  to  him  every  day,  sir,  all  about  the 
money-market  and  railroad  shares ;  sometimes  twice  over, 
indeed ;  and  when  I  ask  if  he  would  n't  like  to  hear  about 
what  goes  on  in  politics,  he  always  says,  '  No,  Proctor, 
let's  have  the  City  article  again." 

"  And  his  letters  —  does  n't  he  read  them  ?  " 

"  The  Captain  reads  them  for  him,  sir ;  and  now  and  then 
writes  the  answers,  for  he  can't  hold  a  pen  himself !  Oh, 
you  '11  not  know  him  when  you  see  him !  He  that  was  so 
large  and  fine  a  man,  I  lift  him  in  and  out  of  bed  as  if  he 
were  a  baby." 

"  Has  he  no  acquaintance  here?" 

"  None,  sir." 

"  Are  there  no  inquMes  after  his  health?  " 

"Yes,  sir;  there's  plenty  of  people  he  used  to  give 
money  to  when  he  was  up  and  about  —  poor  actors,  and 
painters,  and  the  like  —  they  come  every  day  to  know  how 
he  is.  Some  of  them  leave  begging  letters,  which  I  never 
give  him ;  but  most  go  away  without  a  word." 

"  And  his  countrymen  here  —  are  there  none  who  ask  after 
him?' 

"No,  sir.  The  only  English  we  ever  see  visit  my  Lady, 
and  never  come  to  this  side  of  the  house  at  all." 

"  Does  Miss  Dalton  come  to  inquire  for  him?" 

"Every  morning  and  every  night  too,  sir.  I  suppose  it 
must  be  without  my  Lady's  orders,  or  even  knowledge; 
for  once,  when  Sir  Stafford  was  sitting  up  in  his  dressing- 
room,  and  I  asked  her  if  she  would  n't  like  to  come  in 
and  sit  a  few  minutes  with  him,  she  turned  away  without 
speaking;  and  I  saw,  from  her  manner,  that  she  was 
crying." 

"  What  are  all  these  people  outside,  —  who  are  they  ?  " 

"My  Lady's  tradespeople,  sir.  They've  heard  she's 
going  for  a  few  weeks  to  Como,  and  they  've  come  with  all 
their  bills,  as  if  she  was  a  runaway." 

"Go   and    tell   them   to   leave  this,  —  send  them  away. 


AN  ARRIVAL.  459 

Proctor.  It  would  do  your  master  great  injury  were  be  to 
overhear  them.  Say  that  everything  shall  be  paid  in  a 
day  or  two;  that  Sir  Stafford  remains  here,  and  is  re- 
sponsible for  all." 

Proctor  hastened  out  on  his  errand,  and  the  doctor  sat 
down  and  covered  his  face  with  his  hands. 

"  Poor  Stafford !  is  all  your  trustful  affection  come  to 
this?  Is  it  thus  that  your  unbounded  generosity,  your  noble 
hospitality,   are  requited  ?  " 

When  Proctor  returned,  he  proceeded  to  detail,  for  the 
doctor's  information,  the  various  events  which  had  oc- 
curred during  his  absence.  With  most,  Grounsell  was 
already  acquainted,  and  listened  to  the  particulars  without 
surprise  or  emotion. 

"So  it  is,  —  so  it  is,"  muttered  he  to  himself;  "there 
may  be  more  cant  of  virtue,  a  greater  share  of  hypocrisy 
in  our  English  morals,  but,  assuredly,  these  things  do 
not  happen  with  us  as  we  see  them  here.  There  would 
seem  a  something  enervating  in  the  very  air  of  the  land, 
that  a  man  like  him  should  have  sunk  .down  into  this 
besotted  apathy!     When  can  I  see  him,  Proctor?" 

"  He 's  dozing  just  now,  sir ;  but  about  midnight  he  wakes 
up  and  asks  for  his  draught.  If  that  won't  be  too  late  for 
you  —  " 

"  Too  late  for  me !  Why,  what  else  have  I  travelled  for, 
night  and  day,  without  intermission?  Be  cautious,  however, 
about  how  you  announce  me.  Perhaps  it  would  be  better  I 
should  see  the  Captain  first." 

"  You  '11  scarcely  find  him  at  home,  sir,  at  this  hour;  he 
generally  comes  in  between  three  and  four." 

"  Show  me  to  his  room.  I  'II  write  a  few  lines  for  him  in 
case  we  don't  meet." 

Proctor  accompanied  the  doctor  across  the  courtyard, 
and,  guiding  him  up  a  small  stair,  reached  the  terrace  off 
which  George  Onslow's  apartment  opened.  The  window- 
shutters  of  the  room  were  not  closed,  nor  the  curtains 
drawn;  and  in  the  bright  light  of  several  candles  that 
shone  within,  Grounsell  saw  two  figures  seated  at  a  table, 
and  busily  engaged  in  examining  the  details  of  a  case  of 
pistols  which  lay  before  them. 


460  THE  DALTONS. 

"That  will  do,  Proctor,"  said  Grounsell;  "you  may 
leave  me  now.  I'll  be  with  you  at  twelve."  And  thus 
saying,  he  gently  pushed  him  towards  the  door  of  the 
terrace,  which  he  closed  and  bolted  after  him,  and  then 
noiselessly  returned  to  his  former  place. 

There  were  few  things  less  congenial  to  Grounsell's 
nature  than  playing  the  spy.  It  was  a  part  he  thoroughly 
detested,  nor  did  he  think  that  it  admitted  of  defence  or 
palliation ;  still,  the  whole  habit  of  his  mind  through  life 
had  impressed  him  with  a  disparaging  opinion  of  himself. 
The  limited  sphere  of  his  duties,  the  humble  routine  of 
his  daily  walk,  and  the  very  few  friendships  he  had  in- 
spired, all  tended  to  increase  this  impression,  till  at  last  he 
looked  upon  himself  as  one  who  could  only  be  useful  by 
the  sacrifice  of  personal  feeling  and  the  abnegation  of  all 
self-esteem;  and  thus  he  would  have  declined  to  know 
another  man  for  what  he  deemed  of  no  consequence  in 
himself.  His  fault  was  not  thinking  too  well  of  others, 
but  thinking  too  meanly  of  himself. 

The  scene  before  him  now  was  enough  to  suggest  deep 
anxiety.  Notes  and  letters  littered  the  floor  and  the  table ; 
the  embers  of  a  large  fire  of  papers  lay  on  the  hearth ; 
open  drawers  and  boxes  stood  on  every  side ;  all  betokening 
preparation,  the  object  of  which  the  pistol-case  sufficiently 
indicated.  As  they  sat  with  their  backs  to  the  window, 
Grounsell  could  not  recognize  the  figures;  but  the  voice 
of  one  proclaimed  him  to  be  George  Onslow. 

"And  where  is  this  place — ^  on  the  way  to  Arezzo?" 
asked  he. 

"  No;  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  city,  off  the  high-road 
to  Bologna.  It  is  a  little  park,  surrounding  a  summer 
palace  of  the  Grand  Duke,  they  call  Pratolino,"  said  the 
other.  "  They  all  agree  that  it  is  the  best  spot  to  be 
found ;  no  molestation,  nor  interference  of  any  kind ;  and 
a  capital  breakfast  of  fresh  trout  to  be  had  at  the  inn." 

"  An  interesting  consideration  for  such  as  have  good 
appetites,"  said  Onslow,  laughing. 

"  I  never  saw  a  Frenchman  who  had  not,  on  such  an 
occasion,"  rejoined  the  other,  snapping  the  pistol  as  he 
spoke.      "I   like   these   straight    stocks;    you   are   almost 


AN   ARRIVAL.  461 

always  certain  of  your  man,  with  a  stiff  arm  and  a  low 
aim." 

"I  don't  know  that  I  've  forgotten  anything,  Norwood," 
said  Onslow,  rising  and  pacing  the  room  with  folded  arms. 

"  You  've  written  to  the  governor?  " 

"Yes;  and  mentioned  those  acceptances,"  said  Onslow, 
with  a  sneering  severity  that  the  other  never  seemed  to 
notice.     "You're  quite  safe,  whatever  happens." 

"Hang  it,  man,  1  wasn't  thinking  of  that;  curse  the 
money,  it  never  entered  my  thoughts." 

"My  father  will  pay  it,"  said  George,  dryly,  and  con- 
tinued his  walk. 

"  As  you  have  alluded  to  it,  I  hope  you  spoke  of  it  as  a 
loan,  —  anything  like  a  play  transaction  suggests  a  mess  of 
scandal  and  stories." 

"  T  have  called  it  a  debt,  and  that  is  quite  sufficient." 

"All  right  —  whatever  you  like.  And  now  about  this 
girl.  Do  you  intend  to  let  this  mystery  continue,  or  do 
you  think  that,  under  the  circumstances.  Lady  Hester 
should  still  retain  her  as  a  friend  and  companion  ?  " 

"  I  know  of  nothing  to  her  disparagement,  nor  have  I 
yet  met  one  who  does.  That  there  are  circumstances  which 
she  does  not  deem  fitting  to  entrust  to  my  keeping  is  no  just 
cause  of  allegation  against  her." 

"  You  are  very  honorable  to  say  so,  George;  but  I  must 
confess  it  is  more  than  she  deserves  at  your  hands." 

"  How  do  you  mean?  " 

"  That  she  means  to  take  the  Russian,  that's  all." 

"  Well,  and  why  not?  Would  not  such  a  match  be  a  bril- 
liant one  for  a  girl  of  much  higher  rank  and  pretension  ?  " 

"What's  the  use  of  all  this  fencing,  man?"  said  Nor- 
wood, half  angrily.  "  /  know  better  how  matters  stand. 
Do  you  remember  the  night  you  lost  so  heavily  at  Macao? 
Well,  I  was  lying  stretched  on  the  sofa,  yonder,  by  tlie 
light  of  the  fire  only,  when  the  door  opened,  and  she 
stepped  gently  in." 

"What,  Kate  Dalton?" 

"  Yes,  Kate  Dalton.  Oh !  impossible,  if  you  like  —  deny 
it  as  much  as  you  please,  but  she  has  not  equal  hardihood, 
that  I  can  tell  you ;  and  if  she  had,  here  is  the  proof  that 


462  THE  DALTONS. 

could  condemn  her,  —  this  fragment  of  her  lace  flounce  was 
caught  in  the  door  as  she  banged  it  in  her  escape ;  and  this 
very  evening  I  compared  it  with  the  dress  in  question ;  ay, 
and  showed  her  the  rent  from  which  it  came." 

Twice  did  George  compel  Norwood  to  repeat  over  this 
story ;  and  then  sat  down,  overwhelmed  with  sorrow  and 
shame. 

"  You  swear  to  me,  then,  Onslow,  that  you  never  saw  her 
here,  —  never  knew  of  her  coming?"  said  he,  after  a  long 
silence  between  them. 

"  Never,  I  swear  !  "  said  the  other,  solemnly. 

"Then,  some  other  is  the  fortunate  man,  that's  all. 
How  good  if  it  should  turn  out  to  be  Jekyl ! "  And  he 
laughed  heartily  at  the  absurdity  of  the  conceit. 

"No  more  of  this,"  said  Onslow,  passionately.  "The 
tone  of  the  society  we  live  in  here  would  seem  to  warrant 
any  or  every  imputation,  even  on  those  whose  lives  are 
spotless ;  and  I  know  of  no  greater  degradation  than  the 
facility  of  our  belief  in  them.  In  this  instance,  however,  my 
conscience  is  at  ease ;  and  I  reject,  with  contempt,  the  pos- 
sibility of  a  stain  upon  that  girl's  honor." 

"The  sentiment  does  more  credit  to  your  chivalry  than 
your  shrewdness,  George,"  said  the  Viscount,  sarcastically. 
"But  as  you  are  about  to  stake  your  life  on  the  issue,  I 
cannot  impugn  your  sincerity." 

A  hasty  movement  of  George  towards  the  window  here 
alarmed  Grounsell,  and  he  noiselessly  withdrew,  and  de- 
scended the  stairs  again. 

"  A  precious  mess  of  trouble  do  I  find  ready  for  me," 
muttered  he,  as  he  passed  across  the  courtyard.  "  Debt, 
duelling,  and  sickness,  —  such  are  the  pleasures  that  welcome 
me ;  and  these  not  the  worst,  perhaps,  if  the  causes  of  them 
were  to  be  made  known !  " 

"  My  Lady  has  just  heard  of  your  arrival,  doctor,  and 
begs  you  will  have  the  kindness  to  step  up  to  her  room," 
said  Proctor,  coming  to  meet  him. 

"I'm  tired, — I'm  fatigued.  Say  I'm  in  bed,"  said 
Grounsell,  angrily. 

"Her  maid  has  just  seen  you,  sir,"  suggested  Proctor, 
mildly. 


AN  ARRIVAL.  463 

"No  matter;  give  the  answer  I  tell  you;  or  stay — per- 
haps it  would  be  better  to  see  her.  Yes,  Proctor,  show  me 
the  way."  And  muttering  to  himself,  "  The  meeting  will 
not  be  a  whit  pleasanter  for  her  than  me"  he  followed  the 
servant  up  the  stairs. 

Well  habituated  to  Lady  Hester's  extravagant  and  costly 
tastes,  Grounsell  was  yet  unprepared  for  the  gorgeous  deco- 
rations and  splendid  ornaments  of  the  chambers  through 
which  he  passed,  and  he  stopped  from  time  to  time  in 
amazement  to  contemplate  a  magnificence  which  was  pro- 
bably rather  heightened  than  diminished  by  the  uncertain 
light  of  the  candles  the  servant  carried.  He  peered  at 
the  china  vases ;  he  passed  his  hand  across  the  malachite 
and  jasper  tables ;  he  narrowly  inspected  the  rich  mosaics, 
as  though  doubtful  of  their  being  genuine ;  and  then,  with  a 
deep  sigh,  — almost  deep  enough  to  be  a  groan,  —  he  moved 
on  in  sadness.  A  bust  of  Kate  Dalton  —  the  work  of  a  great 
sculptor,  and  an  admirable  likeness  —  caught  his  eye,  and  he 
gazed  at  it  with  signs  of  strong  emotion.  There  was  much 
beauty  in  it,  and  of  a  character  all  her  own ;  but  still  the 
cold  marble  had  caught  up,  in  traits  sterner  than  those  of 
life,  the  ambitious  bearing  of  the  head  and  the  proud 
elevation  of  the  brow. 

"And  she  has  become  this  already!  "  said  he,  half  aloud. 
"  Oh,  how  unlike  poor  Nelly's  model !  —  how  different  from 
the  simple  and  beauteous  innocence  of  those  saint-like 
features ! " 

"  My  Lady  will  see  you,  sir,"  said  Celestine,  breaking 
in  upon  his  musings.  And  he  followed  her  into  the  chamber, 
where,  seated  in  a  deeply  cushioned  chair.  Lady  Hester  re- 
clined, dressed  in  all  the  perfection  of  an  elegant  deshabille. 

Grounsell  was,  assuredly,  not  the  man  to  be  most  taken 
by  such  attractions,  yet  he  could  not  remain  entirely  insen- 
sible to  them ;  and  he  felt  a  most  awkward  sense  of  admi- 
ration as  he  surveyed  her.  With  all  a  woman's  quickness, 
her  Ladyship  saw  the  effect  she  had  produced,  and  languidly 
extending  her  hand,  she  vouchsafed  the  nearest  approach 
to  a  smile  with  which  she  had  ever  favored  him.  As  if 
suddenly  recalling  all  his  old  antipathies  and  prejudices, 
Grounsell  was  himself  in  a  moment,  and,  scarcely  touching 


464  THE  DALTONS. 

the  taper  and  jewelled  fingers,  he  bowed  ceremoniously  and 
took  his  seat  at  a  little  distance  off. 

"  This  is  a  very  unexpected  pleasure  indeed,"  sighed  Lady 
Hester;  "you  only  arrived  to-night?" 

"  Half  an  hour  ago,  madam ;  and  but  for  your  Ladyship's 
summons  I  should  have  been  in  bed." 

"  How  do  you  find  Sir  Stafford  looking  —  poorly,  I  fear?  " 

"  I  haven't  yet  seen  him,  madam,  but  I  am  prepared  for 
a  great  change." 

"  I  fear  so,"  sighed  she,  plaintively ;  "  George  says,  quite 
a  break  up ;  and  Buccellini  calls  it  '  Gotta  Affievolita,'  and 
says  it  is  very  fatal  with  elderly  people." 

' '  The  vulgar  phrase  of  a  '  broken  heart '  is  more  expres- 
sive, madam,  and  perhaps  quite  as  pathological." 

Lady  Hester  drew  proudly  up,  and  seemed  preparing  her- 
self for  a  coming  encounter.  They  were  old  antagonists, 
and  well  knew  each  other's  mode  of  attack.  On  the  present 
occasion,  however,  Grounsell  did  not  seek  a  contest,  and  was 
satisfied  by  a  single  shot  at  the  enemy,  as  if  trying  the 
range  of  his  gun. 

"  You  will  probably  advise  a  change  of  air  and  scene,  Dr. 
Grounsell,"  said  she,  calmly,  and  as  though  inviting  pacific 
intercourse. 

"It  is  precisely  what  I  have  come  for,  madam,"  answered 
he,  in  a  short,  dry  voice.  "  Sir  Stafford's  affairs  require  his 
immediate  return  to  England.  The  vicissitudes  that  attend 
on  great  commercial  enterprises  threaten  him  with  large  — 
very  large  losses." 

Lady  Hester  fell  back  in  her  chair,  and  this  time,  at  least, 
her  pale  cheek  and  her  powerless  attitude  were  not  feigned 
nor  counterfeited ;  but  Grounsell  merely  handed  her  a  smell- 
ing-bottle from  the  table,  and  went  on :  — 

"  The  exact  extent  of  his  liabilities  cannot  be  ascertained 
at  once,  but  they  must  be  considerable.  He  will  be  fortu- 
nate if  there  remain  to  him  one  fourth  of  his  property." 

Lady  Hester's  head  fell  heavily  back,  and  she  fainted  away. 

The  doctor  rose,  and  sprinkled  her  forehead  with  water, 
and  then  patiently  sat  down  with  his  finger  on  her  wrist  to 
watch  the  returning  tide  of  circulation.  Assured  at  length 
of  her  restored  consciousness,  he  went  on :  — 


AN  ARRIVAL.  465 

"  A  small  establishment,  strict  economy,  a  watchful 
supervision  of  every  domestic  arrangement,  together  with 
the  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  all  the  useless  trumpery  by  which 
he  is  at  present  surrounded,  will  do  much ;  but  he  must  be 
seconded,  madam,  —  seconded  and  aided,  not  thwarted  and 
opposed.  George  can  exchange  into  a  regiment  in  India; 
the  proper  steps  have  been  already  taken  for  that  pur- 
pose." 

"Have  you  been  thoughtful  enough,  sir,  in  your  general 
care  of  this  family,  to  engage  a  small  bouse  for  us  at 
Brighton?" 

"  I  have  seen  one  at  Ramsgate,  madam,"  replied  he, 
dryly;   "but  the  rent  is  more  than  we  ought  to  give." 

"Are  we,  so  very  poor  as  that,  sir?"  said  she,  sarcas- 
tically, laying  emphasis  on  the  pronoun. 

"  Many  excellent  and  worthy  persons,  madam,  contrive 
to  live  respectably  on  less." 

"  Is  Miss  Onslow  to  go  out  as  a  governess,  doctor?  I  am 
afraid  you  have  forgotten  her  share  in  these  transactions  ?  " 

"  I  have  a  letter  from  her  in  my  pocket,  madam,  which 
would  show  that  she  herself  is  not  guilty  of  this  forgetful- 
ness,  wherein  she  makes  the  very  proposition  you  allude  to." 

"  And  me?  Have  j'ou  no  sphere  of  self-denial  and  duty 
—  have  you  no  degrading  station,  nor  menial  servitude, 
adapted  to  my  habits  ?  " 

"  I  know  of  none,  madam,"  said  Grounsell,  sternly. 
"Varnish  will  no  more  make  a  picture  than  fine  manners 
prove  a  substitute  for  skill  or  industry." 

"  This  is  really  too  much,  sir,"  said  she,  rising,  her  face 
now  crimson  with  anger;  "and  even  if  all  you  have  said 
prove  true,  reverse  of  fortune  can  bring  no  lieavier  inflic- 
tion than  the  prospect  of  your  intimacy  and  obtrusive 
counsels." 

"  You  may  not  need  them,  madam.  In  adversity,"  said 
Grounsell,  with  a  smile,  "  healthy  stomachs  get  on  very  well 
without  bitters."  And  so  saying,  he  bowed  and  left  the 
room. 

For  a  few  moments  Lady  Hester  sat  overwhelmed  by  the 
tidings  she  had  just  heard,  and  then,  suddenly  rising,  she 
rang  the  bell  for  her  maid. 
VOL.  I.— 30 


466  THE  DALTONS. 

"Send  Miss  Dalton  to  me,  Celestine;  say  I  wish  to 
speak  to  her  immediately,"  said  she.  "  This  may  be  the 
last  time  we  shall  speak  to  each  other  ere  we  invert  our 
positions,"  muttered  she  to  herself.  And  in  the  working  of 
her  features  might  be  read  all  the  agony  of  the  reflection. 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 


PRATOLINO. 


How  like  the  great  world  is  every  little  sectioEf  of  it!  How 
full  of  all  its  passions  aud  interests,  its  warring  jealousies 
and  its  selfish  struggles!  Within  the  Mazzarini  Palace 
that  night  were  at  work  every  emotion  and  sentiment  which 
sway  the  wide  communities  of  men ;  and  hope  and  fear,  the 
yearnings  of  ambition,  and  the  gloomy  forebodings  of 
despair,  sat  beside  the  pillows  of  those  who,  in  vain, 
sought  sleep    and  forgetfulness. 

Before  that  long  night  ended.  Sir  Stafford  had  learned 
his  ruin,  —  for  it  was  little  less.  Kate  had  yielded,  to  the 
pressing  entreaties  of  Lady  Hester,  her  consent  to  accept 
Midchekoflf;  and,  just  as  day  was  breaking,  George 
Onslow  stole  to  his  father's  bedside  to  see  him  once  more, 
perhaps  for  the  last  time.  It  would  be  difficult  to  say  in 
which  of  those  three  hearts  the  darkest  sorrow  brooded. 
With  noiseless  step  and  cautious  gesture,  George  crossed 
the  little  sitting-room,  and  entered  his  father's  chamber; 
and,  without  awaking  the  servant,  who  kept  watch  habitu- 
ally without,  but  now  had  dropped  off  to  sleep,  he  gained 
the  bedside,  and  sat  down. 

The  terrible  tidings  he  had  just  heard  were  evidently 
working  on  Sir  Stafford's  brain,  and,  despite  all  the  influ- 
ence of  his  opiate,  still  engaged  his  faculties;  for  his  lips 
continued  to  move  rapidly,  and  short  broken  sentences  fell 
from  him  incessantly.  "Poor  George!  poor  George!  " 
he  muttered  from  time  to  time,  and  the  tears  rolled  down 
the  young  man's  cheek  as  he  heard  them. 

"How  unworthy  of  him  have  I  been! "  thought  he;  "how 
shamefully  unworthy  and  forgetful !  Here  should  have 
been  my  place,  for  those  hours  which  I  have  spent  in  noisy 


468  THE  DALTONS. 

dissipation  and  debauch;  and  now  I  come  for  the  first  time, 
and  probably  the  last!  Oh,  my  poor  father!  How  will  you 
bear  up  against  the  shock  that  is  preparing  for  you?  for, 
with  all  my  faults,  I  know  how  you  have  loved  me!"  A 
heavy  tear  dropped  from  him  on  the  old  man's  cheek  as  he 
said  this;  and  gently  brushing  it  off  with  his  hand.  Sir 
Stafford  opened  his  eyes  and  awoke.  A  mild  and  gentle 
smile  broke  over  his  features  as  he  saw  his  sou  beside  him, 
and  he  drew  him  towards  him,  and  kissed  him, 

"Have  you  been  long  here,  George?"  said  he,  affection- 
ately. 

"But  a  few  minutes.  I  am  so  sorry  to  have  disturbed 
you,"  muttered  the  other,   in  confusion. 

"  Have  you  seen  Grounsell  yet  ?  Has  he  told  you  ?  " 
asked  Sir  Stafford. 

"Grounsell?  —  no,  sir.  I  did  not  even  hear  of  his 
arrival.     What  are  his  tidings?" 

"The  saddest,  perhaps,  one  friend  can  bring  another," 
sighed  Onslow,  as  he  covei-ed  his  eyes  with  his  hand. 
"Nay,  nay, — I  am  wrong,"  said  he,  rapidly.  "So  long 
as  Sydney  and  yourself  are  spared  to  me  I  have  no  right  to 
say  this;  still,  George,  it  is  a  terrible  blow  that  strikes  a 
man  down  from  affluence  to  poverty,  and,  in  place  of  wealth 
and   power,    leaves    him    nothing   but    insignificance    and 


ruin 


1 " 


"Good  heavens,  father!  is  your  brain  wandering?  What 
fancies  are  these  that  are  flitting  across  your  mind  ? " 

"Sad  and  stern  truths,  my  poor  boy,"  replied  the  old 
man,  grasping  his  son's  hand  in  his  fevered  palm.  "A  few 
weeks  more  will  see  the  great  house  of  Onslow  bankrupt. 
These  things  cannot  be  told  too  briefly,  George,"  said  he, 
speaking  with  a  tremulous  and  eager  rapidity.  "One 
should  hear  misfortune  early,  to  gain  more  time  for  future 
measures.  A  great  crash  has  fallen  upon  the  moneyed 
interest  of  England.  The  vast  speculations  in  railway's 
have  overreached  themselves ;  failures  of  great  houses  abroad 
have  added  to  the  difficulty.  The  correspondents  whose 
solvency  we  never  doubted  are  tottering  to  ruin.  Every 
post  brings  tidings  of  some  new  failure ;  and  from  Odessa, 
from  Hamburg,  and   from  the  ports  of  the  Baltic  to  the 


PRATOLINO.  469 

distant  shores  of  the  New  World,  there  is  nothing  but 
bankruptcy." 

"But  you  have  large  estates,  sir;  you  possess  property  of 
various  kinds  beyond  the  reach  of  these  casualties." 

"I  own  nothing  to  which  my  creditors  have  not  a  just 
right;  nor,  if  I  did,  could  1  exercise  the  privilege  of 
retaining  it,  George,"  said  the  old  man.  '"From  what 
Grounsell  tells  me,  there  will  be  sufficient  to  meet  every 
claim,  but  no  more.  There  will  remain  nothing  after. 
Lady  Hester's  settlement  will,  of  course,  secure  to  her  a 
moderate  competence ;  and  we  —  you  and  I  —  must  look 
about,  and  see  how  we  can  face  this  same  world  we  have 
been  feasting  so  long.  My  time  in  it  will  needs  be  brief; 
but  you,  who  may  look  forward  with  hope  to  long  years  of 
life,  must  bethink  you  at  once  of  the  new  path  before  you. 
Arouse  yourself,  then,  to  the  task,  and  I  do  not  know  but 
I  may  be  prouder  of  you  yet,  buffeting  the  wild  waves  of 
adversity,  and  fighting  the  manful  part  of  a  bold,  cour- 
ageous spirit,  than  I  have  ever  been  in  seeing  you  in  the 
brilliant  circle  of  all  your  high  and  titled  acquaintances. 
Ay,  George,  the  English  merchant  never  died  out  in  my 
heart,  for  all  the  aristocratic  leaven  which  accident  mixed 
up  with  my  fortunes.  I  never  ceased  to  glory  in  the  pride 
of  wealth  accumulated  by  generous  enterprises  and  honor- 
able toil.  I  loved  the  life  of  labor  that  disciplined  the 
faculties,  and  exercised  not  alone  intelligence,  but  turned 
to  use  the  gentler  charities  of  life,  linking  man  to  man,  as 
brethren  journeying  the  same  road,  with  different  burdens, 
perhaps,  but  with  the  same  goal.  For  myself,  therefore,  I 
have  few  cares.  It  remains  with  you  to  make  them  even 
fewer." 

"Tell  me  what  you  propose  for  me,  sir,"  said  George,  in 
a  low,  weak  voice. 

"First  of  all,  George,  you  ought  to  leave  the  army. 
Grounsell,  I  must  tell  you,  is  not  of  this  opinion;  he  advises 
an  exchange  into  a  regiment  in  India,  but  I  think  differ- 
ently. To  repair,  if  it  be  possible,  the  shattered  wreck  of 
our  fortunes,  you  must  address  yourself  to  business  life  and 
habits.  You  '11  have  to  visit  the  West  Indies,  and,  prob- 
ably,  the  East.     AVe  still  possess  property  in  Ceylon,  of 


470  THE  DALTONS. 

value ;  and  our  coffee  plantations  there,  as  yet  only  in  their 
infancy,  need  nothing  but  good  management  to  ensm-e  suc- 
cess. Grounsell  laughed  at  my  suggesting  you  for  such 
duties,  but  I  know  you  better,  George,  far  better,  than  he 
does.  The  English  pluck  that  storms  a  breach  or  heads 
a  charge  is  the  very  same  quality  that  sustains  a  man  on 
the  long  dark  road  of  adverse  fortune.  1  have  often  told 
Grounsell  that  the  stuff  was  in  you,  George." 

The  young  man  squeezed  his  father's  hand,  but  was 
obliged  to  turn  away  his  head  to  hide  the  tears  which  filled 
his  eyes ;  for  what  a  terrible  deception  was  he  practising  at 
that  very  moment,  and  what  duplicity  was  there  even  in  the 
silence  with  which  he  heard  him ! 

For  a  few  seconds  Sir  Stafford  seemed  to  revel  in  all  the 
bright  visions  of  a  warm  fancy.  The  prospect  his  imagi- 
nation had  conjured  up  appeared  to  have  momentarily  lifted 
him  above  the  reach  of  sorrow.  He  thought  of  his  son 
engaged  in  the  active  business  of  life,  and  displaying  in 
this  new  career  the  energies  and  resources  of  a  bold  and 
courageous  spirit.  He  imagined  the  high-principled  youth 
becoming  the  British  merchant,  and  making  the  name  of 
"Onslow"  great  and  respected  in  the  old  arena  of  all  their 
victories,  —  the  city  of  London.  Could  this  but  come  to 
pass,  were  this  dream  to  be  realized,  and  he  would  bless  the 
hour  that  wrecked  his  fortune,  and  thus  made  his  poverty 
the  foundation  of  future  greatness. 

"I  confess,  George,"  said  he,  "that  I  have  a  pride  in 
thinking  that  I  knew  you  better  than  others  did,  and  that 
I  read  in  the  very  wayward  caprices  of  your  disposition 
the  impatience  of  an  active  mind,  and  not  the  ennui  of  an 
indolent  one."  From  this  the  old  man  branched  off  into 
his  plans  for  the  future ;  and,  as  if  the  emergency  had  sug- 
gested energy,  talked  well  and  clearly  of  all  that  was  to  be 
done.  They  were  to  start  for  England  at  once.  Sir  Staf- 
ford felt  as  if  he  was  able  to  set  out  that  very  day.  Some 
weeks  would  elapse  before  the  crash  came,  and  in  the  inter- 
val every  preparation  might  be  taken.  "I  hope,"  said  he, 
feelingly,  "that  I  have  few  enemies;  I  am  not  sanguine 
enough  to  say,  none;  but,  such  as  they  are,  they  will  not 
seek  to  humiliate  me,  I  trust,  by  any  unnecessary  pub- 


PRATOLINO.  471 

licity."  The  theme  was  a  very  painful  one,  and  for  a  few 
seconds  he  could  not  go  on.  At  last  he  resumed:  ''The 
extravagance  of  this  household,  George,  will  give  much  and 
just  offence.  It  must  be  retrenched,  and  from  this  very 
day,  from  this  very  hour.  You  will  look  to  this.  It  must 
not  be  said  of  us  that,  with  ruin  before  us,  we  continued 
these  habits  of  wasteful  excess.  Let  these  troops  of  idle 
servants  be  discharged  at  once.  Except  Lady  Hester's 
carriage,  sell  off  all  equipage.  Take  no  heed  of  what  will 
be  the  town  talk ;  such  a  downfall  as  ours  can  never  be 
kept  a  secret.  Let  us  only  take  care  that  we  fall  with 
dignity.  Grounsell  will  remain  here  after  us  to  settle  every- 
thing, and  our  departure  ought  to  be  as  speedy  as  may  be. 
But  you  are  not  listening,  George;  do  you  hear  me?" 

It  was  quite  true  George  heeded  little  of  what  his  father 
spoke;  for,  with  bent-down  head,  he  was  trying  to  catch 
the  sounds  of  what  seemed  a  long,  low  whistle  from  the 
court  without.  As  he  listened,  the  whistle  was  repeated; 
he  knew  now  that  it  was  Norwood's  signal,  and  that  "his 
time  was  up." 

"I  must  leave  you,  my  dear  father,"  said  he,  assuming 
all  that  he  could  of  calmness.  "I  have  an  appointment 
this  morning,  and  one  that  I  cannot  well  shake  off.  Nor- 
wood and  I  have  promised  to  meet  some  friends  at 
Pratolino." 

"It  was  of  that  same  Norwood  I  wished  to  speak  to  you, 
George.  The  sophistry  of  thinking  him  '  no  worse  than  his 
set '  will  serve  no  longer.  Such  men  are  not  fitting 
acquaintances  for  one  whose  character  must  be  above 
reproach.     Norwood  is  a  most  unworthy  friend  for  you." 

"I  scarcely  ever  thought  of  him  in  that  light.  We  are 
intimate,  it  is  true;  but  such  intimacy  is  not  friendship." 

"The  greater  the  pollution  of  such  acquaintanceship, 
then,"  said  the  old  man,  gravely.  "To  see  the  dark  side  of 
such  a  nature,  and  yet  live  under  its  baneful  shadow,  is 
infinitely  worse,  George,  than  all  the  self-deception  of  a 
rash  confidence.  Keep  your  promise  to-day,  but  I  beseech 
you,  let  it  be  for  the  last  time  in  such  company." 

Ao;ain  the  whistle  was  heard,  and  with  the  sharp  crack  of 
a  whip,  denoting  impatience;  and  fearful  that  some  acci- 


472  THE  DALTONS. 

dent  might  betray  his  secret,  George  clasped  the  old  man's 
hand  fervidly  within  his  own,  and  hurried  away  without  a 
word. 

"Is  that  George?"  cried  Norwood,  as  he  stood  beside  a 
calessino  ready  harnessed,  and  with  lamps  lighted,  for  the 
morning  was  still  dark, — "is  that  George?  Why,  where 
have  you  been  loitering  this  half-hour,  man?  Our  time 
is  six  sharp,  and  it  is  now  considerably  past  five,  and  the 
way  lies  all  up  hill." 

"I  have  often  done  the  distance  in  half  an  hour,"  said 
George,  angrily. 

"Perhaps  the  errand  was  a  pleasanter  one,"  rejoined  Nor- 
wood, laughing;  "but  jump  in,  for  I  feel  certain  the  others 
are  before  us." 

George  Onslow  was  in  no  mood  for  talking  as  he  took 
his  seat  beside  his  companion.  The  late  scene  with  his 
father  and  the  approaching  event  were  enough  to  occupy 
him,  even  had  his  feeling  for  Norwood  been  different  from 
what  it  was;  but  in  reality  never  had  he  experienced  the 
same  dislike  for  the  Viscount.  All  the  flippant  ease,  all 
the  cool  indifference  he  displayed,  were  only  so  many 
offences  to  one  whose  thoughts  were  traversing  the  whole 
current  of  his  life,  from  earliest  boyhood  down  to  that 
very  moment.  A  few  hours  hence  he  might  be  no  more! 
And  thence  arose  to  his  mind  the  judgments  men  would 
pass  upon  him, —  the  few  who  would  speak  charitably,  the 
still  fewer  who  would  regret  him.  "What  a  career!" 
thought  he.  "What  use  to  have  made  of  fortune,  station, 
health,  and  vigor;  to  have  lived  in  dissipation,  and  die 
for  a  street  brawl!  And  poor  Kate!  to  what  unfeeling 
scandal  will  this  unhappy  meeting  expose  you  !  how  impos- 
sible to  expect  that  truth  will  ever  penetrate  through  that 
dark  atmosphere  of  mystery  and  malevolence  the  world  will 
throw  over  the  event !  " 

Norwood  was  provoked  at  the  silence,  and  tried  in 
various  ways  to  break  it.  He  spoke  of  the  road,  the 
weather,  the  horse's  trotting  action,  the  scenery,  —  over 
which  the  breaking  day  now  threw  fitful  and  uncertain 
lights,  —  but  all  in  vain ;  and  at  last,  piqued  by  non-success, 
he  spitefully  pointed  attention  to  a  little  valley  beside  the 


PRATOLINO.  478 

road,  and  said,  "Do  you  see  that  spot  yonder,  near  the 
pine-trees?  —  that  's  where  Harry  Mathews  was  shot. 
Malzahn  sent  the  bullet  through  the  brain  at  forty  paces. 
They  were  both  first-rate  pistol-shots,  and  the  only  ques- 
tion was  who  should  fire  first.  Harry  determined  to  reserve 
his  shot,  and  he  carried  the  privilege  into  the  other  world 
with  him.  Malzahn  knew  he  might  trust  his  skill,  and 
fired  the  very  instant  he  took  his  ground.  The  moral  of 
which  is,  — always  try  and  have  first  fire  with  a  foreigner." 

"I  heard  the  sound  of  wheels  behind  us;  who  are  they?" 
said  George,  not  heeding  either  the  story  or  the  counsel. 

"The  doctor,  I  suspect.  I  ordered  a  calessino  to  wait 
for  him  at  the  door  of  the  palace,  and  bring  him  up  as  fast 
as  possible," 

"If  Guilmard  be  equal  to  his  reputation,  we  shall  not 
want  his  services,"  said  Onslow,  with  a  faint  smile. 

"Who  can  tell?  We  '11  put  you  up  at  a  short  distance; 
and  there  's  nothing  shakes  the  nerves  of  your  practised 
pistol-shot  more  than  ten  or  twelve  paces." 

The  road  here  became  so  steep  that  they  were  obliged  to 
get  down  and  walk  for  some  distance,  while  the  horse  toiled 
slowly  up  behind  them.  As  they  went,  Norwood  continued 
to  talk  on  incessantly  of  this,  that,  and  t'  other,  as  though 
bound  to  occupy  the  attention  of  his  companion;  while 
George,  with  half-closed  eyes,  strolled  onward,  deep  in  his 
own  thoughts. 

"We  're  not  far  off  the  place  now,  George,"  said  Norwood, 
at  last,  "and  I  wish  you  'd  throw  off  that  look  of  care  and 
abstraction.  These  foreign  fellows  will  be  quite  ready  to 
misinterpret  it.  Seem  at  your  ease,  man,  and  take  the 
thing  as  I  have  seen  you  take  it  before,  —  as  rather  good 
fun  than  otherwise." 

"But  that  is  precisely  what  I  do  not  feel  it,"  said  George, 
smiling  quietly.  "Twenty-four  hours  ago,  when  life  had 
every  possible  advantage  to  bestow  on  me,  with  the  pros- 
pect of  an  ample  fortune  before  me,  I  was  perfectly  ready 
to  turn  out  with  any  man  who  had  the  right  to  ask  me;  and 
now  that  I  am  ruined  —  " 

"Ruined!"  broke  in  Norwood;  "what  do  j'ou  mean? 
You  have  not  lost  to  that  Greek  fellow  so  largely  as  that?" 


474  THE   DALTONS. 

''Now  that  my  father  is  on  the  verge  of  utter  ruin," 
repeated  George,  slowly,  —  "  the  news  came  last  night,  — 
I  never  felt  the  desire  of  life  so  strong  within  me.  A  few 
days  or  weeks  more  will  make  it  public  gossip,  so  I  may 
tell  you  that  we  have  not  escaped  the  torrent  that  is  sweep- 
ing away  so  many  of  the  richest  houses  in  Europe;  and 
what  between  our  immense  liabilities  and  my  father's 
scrupulous  sense  of  honor,  the  chances  are  we  shall  be 
utterly  beggared." 

"The  devil!"  exclaimed  Norwood,  whose  thoughts  at 
once  reverted  to  his  own  claims  on  George,  and  the  unpaid 
acceptances  he  still  held  of  his. 

"That's  what  I  feel  so  strange,"  said  George,  now 
speaking  with  a  degree  of  warmth  and  interest,  "that  it 
should  be  exactly  when  life  ceases  to  give  promise  that  I 
should  care  for  it;  and  I  own  to  you,  I  'd  give  anything  that 
this  meeting  was  not  before  me." 

Norwood  started,  and  turned  his  keen  eyes  on  the  other, 
but  in  the  calm,  unmoved  features  he  saw  no  traces  of  fear 
or  even  agitation ;  and  it  was  in  his  habitually  calm  voice 
Onslow  resumed,  — 

"Yes,  I  wish  the  Count's  hand  would  shake  a  little, 
Norwood.  I  'd  be  most  grateful  to  the  bullet  that  would 
take  to  the  right  or  the  left  of  me." 

"Come,  come,  George,  no  more  of  this.  We  are  alone 
here,  it 's  true ;  but  if  you  talk  this  way  now,  you  may 
chance  to  look  like  it  by  and  by." 

"And  if  I  do  not,  my  looks  will  strangely  belie  my  sen- 
timents, that  I  can  tell  you,"  said  Onslow,  with  a  quiet 
laugh.  "I  don't  care  how  you  read  the  confession,  Nor- 
wood, but  I  tell  you  frankly,  that  if  the  insult  in  this 
instance  admitted  of  an  apology,  if  there  were  any  way  to 
come  off  consistent  with  honor,  I  'd  take  it,  and  not  fight 
this  Frenchman." 

"Have  you  forgotten  his  reputation  as  a  shot?"  asked 
Norwood,  hastily. 

"I  was  not  thinking  of  it.  My  mind  was  dwelling 
merely  on  my«elf  and  my  own  interests,  — how  far  my  life, 
if  preserved,  could  be  rendered  useful  to  others,  and  in 
what  way  my  death  might  occasion  detriment  and  injury." 


PRATOLINO.  475 

"A  most  mercantile  estimate  of  profit  and  loss,  by 
Jove!"  said  Norwood,  laughing;  "and  perhaps  it  is  fortu- 
nate for  you  there  is  no  amende  possible,  for  if  Guilmard 
should  miss  you  —  " 

"As  to  these  acceptances,"  said  George,  not  paying 
attention  to  what  the  other  said,  "I'd  prefer  that  they 
should  not  be  presented  to  my  father  under  our  actual 
circumstances.  My  horses  and  carriages,  and  some  other 
trumpery  of  mine,  when  sold,  will  more  than  meet  them, 
and  I  have  given  orders  to  that  end." 

"Come,  old  fellow,  it's  not  gone  that  far  yet,"  said  Nor- 
wood, affecting  a  tone  of  friendship,  suggested  by  the  self- 
satisfaction  the  promise  of  payment  afforded  him.  "But, 
hush!  There  they  are,  all  together.  Let  us  talk  no  more 
of  these '  matters ;  and  now,  George,  for  Heaven's  sake, 
be  cool." 

Norwood  drew  the  other's  arm  within  his  own  as  he  said 
this,  and  advanced  to  where  a  group  of  some  half-dozen 
persons  were  standing,  beside  a  low  balcony,  overlooking 
the  Val  d'Arno  and  the  graceful  valley  in  which  Florence 
stands.  Norwood  quitted  his  friend's  arm  as  he  came 
forward  and  saluted  the  company.  Nothing  could  possibly 
be  more  easy  and  unconstrained  than  the  tone  of  their  con- 
versation, as  they  chatted  away  about  the  prospect  beneath, 
and  over  which,  like  a  gauzy  veil,  the  gray  shadow  of  dawn 
was  hanging.  With  the  exception  of  an  Italian  or  two, 
they  were  all  French,  —  the  young  fashionables  who  were 
the  loungers  of  the  salons  and  cafes  of  the  city. 

"Have  you  breakfasted,  my  Lord?"  said  one.  "If  not, 
let  me  recommend  some  excellent  cutlets,  which  are  not  too 
cold,  even  yet." 

"And  the  best  chocolate  I  ever  tasted  out  of  Paris,"  cried 
another. 

"Thanks,"  said  Norwood.  "We  '11  profit  by  the  good 
counsel."  And,  taking  a  cigar  from  his  case,  he  lighted  it 
from  Guilmard's,  as,  with  hands  in  his  paletot,  he  sat 
negligently  on  the  wall,  surveying  the  scene  below  him. 

"Come,  George,  let's  have  something,"  whispered  Nor- 
wood, eagerly;  for  the  vacant  and  unoccupied  stare  of 
Onslow  continued  to  cause  the  Viscount  the  most  intense 


476  THE  DALTONS. 

anxiety.  "These  fellows  are  afifecting  to  be  devilish  cool. 
Let  us  not  be  behindhand."  And,  rather  by  force  than 
mere  persuasion,  he  dragged  Onslow  along,  and  entered  the 
little  parlor  of  the  inn. 

A  large  table,  covered  with  the  remains  of  an  ample 
breakfast,  stood  in  the  middle  of  the  room,  and  a  dish  of 
cutlets  was  placed  to  keep  hot  before  the  stove.  Several 
loose  sheets  of  paper  lay  scattered  about  the  table,  on 
which  were  scrawled  absurd  and  ill-drawn  caricatures  of 
duels,  in  which  attitudes  of  extravagant  fear  and  terror 
predominated.  Norwood  glanced  at  them  for  a  moment, 
and  then  contemptuously  threw  them  into  the  fire. 

"Sit  down,  George,"  said  he,  placing  a  chair  for  the 
other:  "and,  if  you  cannot  eat,  at  least  take  a  '  nip'  of 
brandy.  Jekyl  will  be  up,  I  suppose,  in  a  few  minutes. 
I  told  him  to  come  with  the  doctor." 

"I  never  felt  an  appetite  at  this  early  hour,"  said 
Onslow;  "and  perhaps  the  present  is  not  the  time  to  sug- 
gest one." 

"Did  you  remark  Guilmard?"  said  Norwood,  as  he 
helped  himself  to  a  cutlet,  and  prepared  his  plate  most 
artistically  for  a  savory  meal.  "Did  you  observe  him, 
George  ?  " 

"No;  I  never  looked  that  way." 

"By  Jove!  he  has  got  a  tremendous  scar  on  his  cheek; 
the  whole  length,  from  the  eye  to  the  corner  of  his  mouth. 
English  knuckles  do  not  certainly  improve  French  physiog- 
nomy.    A  left-hander,  eh?" 

"I  remember  nothing  about  it,"  said  Onslow,  carelessly. 

"Well,  you  've  left  him  a  memorandum  of  the  transac- 
tion, any  way,"  said  the  Viscount,  as  he  ate  on.  "And  j'ou 
were  talking  about  an  apology  awhile  ago?  " 

"  I  was  wishing  that  the  case  admitted  of  one,"  said 
Onslow,  calmly. 

Norwood  gave  a  sidelong  glance  at  the  speaker,  and, 
although  he  said  nothing,  a  gesture  of  angry  impatience 
revealed  what  was  passing  within  him. 

"  Do  try  that  brandy.  Well,  then,  take  a  glass  of  cura- 
Qoa,"  said  he,  pushing  the  bottle  towards  him. 

"Something!    anything,   in   fact,  you   v/ould   say.   Nor- 


PRATOLINO.  477 

wood,  that  might  serve  to  make  my  courage  '  carry  the 
bead ; '  but  you  are  altogether  mistaken  in  me.  It  is  not 
of  myself  I  am  thinking;  my  anxieties  are —  But  what 
could  you  care,  or  even  understand,  about  my  motives? 
Finish  your  breakfast,  and  let  us  make  an  end  of  this 
affair." 

"In  one  minute  more  I'm  your  man;  but  if  I  have  a 
weakness,  it  is  for  a  plain  roast  truffle,  with  butter.  It  was 
a  first  love  of  mine,  and,  as  the  adage  says,  'only  revient 
toujours.'  Were  I  in  your  shoes  this  morning,  George,  I  'd 
not  leave  one  on  the  dish." 

"On  what  principle,  pray?"  asked  Onslow,  smiling. 

"  On  that  of  the  old  Cardinal,  who,  when  his  doctors  pro- 
nounced his  case  hopeless,  immediately  ordered  a  supper  of 
ortolans  with  olives.  It  was  a  grand  opportunity  to  indulge 
without  the  terror  of  an  indigestion ;  and  a  propos  to  such 
themes,  where  can  our  worthy  doctor  be  all  this  time?  The 
calessino  was  close  up  with  us  all  the  way." 

Leaving  Norwood  to  continue  his  meal,  George  strolled 
out  in  quest  of  the  surgeon,  but  none  had  seen  nor  knew 
anything  of  him.  An  empty  calessino  was  standing  on  the 
roadside,  but  the  driver  only  knew  that  the  gentleman  who 
came  with  him  had  got  out  there,  and  entered  the  park. 

"Then  we  shall  find  him  near  the  little  lake,"  said  Nor- 
wood, coolly,  as  George  returned,  disappointed.  "But  it's 
strange,  too,  that  he  should  be  alone.  Jekyl  was  to  have 
been  with  him.  These  foreigners  ever  insist  upon  two 
seconds  on  either  side.  Like  the  gambler  that  always  is 
calling  for  fresh  cards,  it  looks  very  like  a  suspicion  of  foul 
play.  Go  back,  George,  and  see  if  the  fellow  knows  notli- 
ing  of  Jekyl.  You  've  only  to  name  him,  for  every  cab, 
cad,  and  barcaruolo  of  Florence  is  acquainted  with  Master 
Albert." 

George  returned  to  the  spot,  but  without  any  success. 
The  man  stated  that  he  took  his  stand,  as  he  was  desired,  at 
the  gate  of  the  palace,  and  that  a  little  man,  apparently 
somewhat  elderly,  came  out,  and  asked  which  way  the  others 
had  gone,  and  how  long  before  they  had  started.  "See 
that  you  pick  them  up.  then,"  said  he,  "but  don't  pass 
them.     He  talked  incessantly,"  added  the  man,  "  the  whole 


478-  THE  DALTONS.  * 

way,  but  in  such  bad  Italian  that  I  could  make  nothing  of 
it,  and  so  I  answered  at  random.  If  I  were  tii-ed  of  him^  I 
fancy  he  was  sick  of  me  /  and  when  he  got  out  yonder,  and 
passed  into  the  park,  it  was  a  relief  to  us  both." 

George  was  just  turning  away,  when  his  eye  caught  a 
glimpse  of  the  glorious  landscape  beneath,  on  which  a 
freshly  risen  sun  was  shedding  all  its  splendor.  There  are 
few  scenes,  even  in  Italy,  more  striking  than  the  Val  d'Arno 
around  Florence.  The  beautiful  city  itself,  capped  with 
many  a  dome  and  tower,  the  gigantic  castle  of  the  Bargello, 
the  graceful  arch  of  the  Baptistery,  the  massive  faqade  of 
the  Pitti,  all,  even  to  the  lone  tower  on  the  hill  where  Galileo 
watched,  rich  in  their  storied  memories ;  while  on  the  gentle 
slope  of  the  mountain  stood  hundreds  of  beauteous  villas, 
whose  very  names  are  like  spells  to  the  imagination,  and 
the  Dante,  the  Alfieri,  the  Boccaccio,  vie  in  interest  with  the 
sterner  realities  of  the  Medici,  the  Pazzi,  the  Salviati,  and 
the  Strozzi.  What  a  flood  of  memory  pours  over  the  mind, 
to  think  how  every  orange-grove  and  terrace,  how  each 
clump  of  olives,  or  each  alley  of  cedars,  have  witnessed  the 
most  intense  passions,  or  the  most  glorious  triumphs  of 
man's  intellect  or  ambition,  and  that  every  spot  we  see  has 
its  own  claim  to  immortality ! 

Not  in  such  mood  as  this,  however,  did  Onslow  survey 
the  scene.  It  was  in  the  rapt  admiration  of  its  picturesque 
beauty.  The  glittering  river,  now  seen  and  lost  again,  the 
waving  tree-tops,  the  parterres  of  bright  flowers,  the  stately 
palaces,  whose  terraces  were  shadowed  by  the  magnolia,  the 
oleander,  and  the  fig,  all  made  up  a  picture  of  rich  and 
beautiful  effect,  and  he  longed  to  throw  himself  on  the  deep 
grass  and  gaze  on  it  for  hours.  As  he  stood  thus,  unable 
to  tear  himself  away,  he  heard  the  sharp  cracking  of  a  pos- 
tilion's whip  immediately  beneath  him,  and,  on  looking 
down,  saw  two  heavily  laden  travelling-carriages,  which  all 
the  power  of  eight  horses  to  each  could  barely  drag  along 
against  the  steep  ascent.  A  mounted  courier  in  advance 
proclaimed  that  the  travellers  were  persons  of  condition, 
and  everything  about  the  equipages  themselves  indicated 
wealth  and  station.  As  Onslow  knew  all  who  moved  in  a 
certain  class  in  society,   he  was  curious  to  see   who   was 


PRATOLINO.  479 

journeying  northward  so  early  in  tlie  year,  and,  stepping 
into  a  little  copse  beside  the  road,  he  waited  for  the  carriages 
to  pass. 

They  came  slowly  forward,  —  now  halting  to  "breathe" 
the  weary  horses,  now  struggling  for  a  brief  space  against 
the  hill,  —  and  at  last,  turning  a  sharp  angle  of  the  way, 
the  first  carriage  drew  short  up,  directly  in  front  of  where 
he  stood.  The  panels  bore  the  flaunting  and  pretentious 
arms  of  Prince  Midchekoflf,  with  many  an  armorial  em- 
blem, which,  however  tolerated  in  the  rest  of  Europe, 
the  Czar  would  not  suffer  within  his  own  dominions.  As 
George  glanced  at  these,  he  started,  for  a  well-known 
voice  caught  his  ear,  and,  forgetting  his  desire  of  conceal- 
ment, he  leaned  forward  to  listen.  It  was  Kate  was  speak- 
ing; he  could  not  hear  the  words,  but  the  accents  were 
her  own.  "Oh  for  one  look  at  her,  —  for  the  last  time!" 
thought  he  ;  and  dashed  headlong  through  the  copse  towards 
where,  by  another  bend,  the  road  made  a  rapid  turn  upwards. 

Already  the  horses  had  regained  their  wind,  and  were 
away  at  a  brisk  trot,  as  George  tore  onward  through  the 
closely  interwoven  branches  and  thick  underwood  of  the 
grove.  There  was  no  path,  nor,  once  out  of  sight  or 
sound  of  the  road,  anything  to  guide  him ;  but  he  dashed 
on,  in  the  direction  he  supposed  the  carriage  must  take. 
At  every  step  the  way  grew  more  intricate  and  difficult ; 
the  pits  the  peasants  dig  for  chestnut  leaves,  the  little 
heaps  collected  for  firewood,  intercepted  him  at  each  mo- 
ment. With  torn  clothes  and  bleeding  hands  he  still 
rushed  madly,  resolutely  bent  upon  his  object;  and,  with 
many  a  bruise  and  many  a  scar,  at  last  gained  the  open 
country  just  in  time  to  see  the  second  carriage  crowning 
the  peak  of  the  mountain  above  his  head,  while  he  could 
hear  the  sharp,  clanking  sound  of  the  drag  as  they  fastened 
it  to  the  leading  carriage.  Any  attempt  to  overtake  them 
on  the  hill  must  now  be  hopeless.  He  well  knew  the 
pace  at  which  a  continental  postilion  descends  a  mountain, 
and  how  the  steepest  galleries  of  Alps  and  Apennines  are 
often  galloped  down  at  speed.  P'or  miles  below  him  he 
could  see  the  winding  zigzags  of  the  road,  and  at  each 
turning  he  fancied  how  he  might  catch  sight  of  her.     The 


480  THE  DALTONS. 

mountain  itself  was  terraced  with  vineyards  from  base  to 
summit;  but,  from  the  steepness  of  its  side,  these  terraces 
were  but  narrow  strips  of  ground,  barelp  sufficient  for  the 
vine-dresser  to  pass  when  tending  his  plants,  or  gathering 
in  their  produce.  To  look  down  on  this  giant  stair,  —  for 
such  it  seemed,  —  was  a  giddy  sensation,  and  few  could 
have  surveyed  the  precipitous  descent  without  a  sense  of 
danger.  Onslow's  thoughts,  however,  had  but  one  object, 
—  to  see  Kate  once,  and  for  the  last  time.  By  a  straight 
descent  of  the  mountain,  leaping  from  terrace  to  terrace, 
it  was  possible  for  him  to  reach  the  bottom  before  the 
carriages  could  traverse  the  winding  course  of  the  road ; 
and  no  sooner  was  the  thought  conceived  than  he  pro- 
ceeded to  execute  it.  It  is  difficult  to  convey  to  those 
who  have  never  seen  these  terraced  flights  of  earth  a  true 
notion  of  the  peril  of  such  an  undertaking ;  but  they  who 
have  beheld  them  will  acknowledge  that  little  short  of 
utter  recklessness  could  dare  it.  Less  leaping  than  drop- 
ping from  height  to  height,  the  slightest  impulse  will  carry 
the  footsteps  beyond  the  edge  of  the  terrace,  and  then  all 
self-control  is  lost,  and  destruction,  to  every  appearance, 
inevitable. 

The  youth  whose  ner%^es  have  been  trained  by  the  sports 
of  fox-hunting  and  deer-stalking,  however,  is  seldom  un- 
prepared for  sudden  danger;  and  George  never  hesitated 
when  once  the  undertaking  seemed  practicable.  By  side- 
long leaps  he  descended  the  first  three  or  four  terraces 
well  and  safely.  Impressed  with  the  risk  of  the  exploit, 
he  never  turned  his  eyes  from  the  spot  whereon  he  meant 
to  alight,  and  measured  every  bound  with  accuracy.  Sud- 
denly, however,  his  attention  was  caught  by  the  postilion's 
bugle  sounding,  several  hundred  feet  below  him,  and,  in  a 
bend  of  the  road,  he  saw  the  dust  left  by  the  fast-descend- 
ing carriage.  Forgetful  of  safety,  —  of  everything,  save 
his  object,  —  he  leaped  at  random,  and  with  a  tremendous 
bound  cleared  one  terrace  completely,  and  alighted  on  the 
one  beneath  it.  The  impulse  drove  him  forwards,  and  ere 
he  could  recover,  he  was  on  the  very  verge  of  the  cliff. 
Even  yet  his  presence  of  mind  might  have  rescued  him, 
when  the  loose  masonry  gave  way,  and  carried  him  down 


PRATOLINO.  481 

with  it.  He  fell  forwards,  and  headlong ;  the  force  of  the 
descent  carried  him  on,  and  now,  half  falling,  half  strug- 
gling, he  bounded  from  height  to  height,  till,  shattered, 
maimed,  and  bleeding,  he  rolled,  an  unconscious  heap  of 
clay,  in  the  long  grass  of  the  valley. 

Not  fifty  yards  from  where  he  lay,  the  carriages  passed, 
and  Kate  even  leaned  from  the  window  to  gaze  upon  the 
winding  glen,  little  thinking  how  terrible  an  interest  that 
quiet  scene  was  filled  with.  And  so  the  equipages  held 
their  speed,  and  pressed  onward ;  while,  with  a  faint 
breathing,  poor  George  lay,  sleeping  that  dreamless  slum- 
ber that  seems  a  counterfeit  of  death. 


VOL.   I. — 31 


END   OF   VOL.   I. 


^\oQ'b%'\ 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGKXAI.  UBHABY  FAOUTY 


A    000  754  824     l 


